Why Antoine Walker is firmly against Celtics trading for Kevin Durant originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
On Monday, former Boston Celtics star Antoine Walker expressed his strong opinion about the possibility of the Boston Celtics trading Jaylen Brown the Brooklyn Nets to acquire Kevin Durant.
“I’m so disappointed this morning, because I think this is a terrible decision,” Walker said on FS1’s “First Things First.” “I know people will say, ‘This is Kevin Durant, arguably a Top 3 player in the league and of course you make a trade for that!’
“But, you don’t tear up what you’ve worked so hard to build. We are talking about a team that is young. There core is young.”
Forsberg: Making sense of Celtics’ potential interest in a KD trade
Brown is 25 years old. Jayson Tatum and Robert Williams III are both 24. In comparison, KD is 33 years old. By the end of his contract, Durant will be 37. While Durant is an incredibly talented player, the Celtics have to consider whether adding a player in his mid-30s is worth trading Brown, a young player with immense potential.
“You just lost in the sixth game of the Finals. Everything is in place. You have an identity. I was just giving them praise for having the best summer out of any team in the league. You added a point guard in Malcolm Brogdon. [Danilo] Gallinari gotta come off the bench and score. So your team is set,” Walker continued.
“So you are coming into training camp ready to go, ready to chase a title. Your two star players should be very hungry after losing in the finals. They should be ready to go.”
Walker also called Durant’s mentality into question.
“Is Kevin Durant committed to winning titles? We don’t know that. He didn’t say he wanted to go win a title. He said he just wanted to be traded out of Brooklyn… If he was so concerned with winning titles he would still be there [the Golden State Warriors].”
The former Celtics forward went beyond warning the Celtics against doing the trade, claiming that they never should have discussed a Durant trade with the Nets that involved Brown.
“They never should have entertained this,” Walker said. “They don’t need it. They are already built. They are already set for three, four years to contend for a title.”
Celtics fans will be watching the Celtics closely to see if the organization takes Walker’s words into consideration.
