Kemba Walker has been traded. The Brad Steven Era has started. There is no head coach still and a ton of unanswered questions about the roster. None of it matters.

Kemba Walker was trade in large part because of the financial burden a 32 year old undersized guard with a degenerating knee puts on your franchise when he’s owed $76 million over the next two years. This is true, but if we are to believe the Jared Weiss story in The Athletic there was also tension with the coach and GM.

Danny tried to trade Kemba in the bubble and beyond when his knee was no better after 4 months off. Remember Kemba played extended minutes in that stupid All-Star game and has never been the same player. Reportedly the Celtics asked Kemba to do a number of exercises when Covid hit and well….

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When Tatum was told Kemba was let go, his response from the golf course was, “Damn, My boy for life.” - that’s the response of a guy that knew it was coming for gives zero fucks.

On Gordon Hayward’s way out the door he told Brad Stevens that he needed to be more assertive with his team. I guess Stevens figured with Kemba being the most tenured NBA player on the team, making the most money, and having a reputation as a terrific leader, he lean on him to set the tone. Wrong. News flash Brad this is 2021 NBA. None of these players are going to take kindly to Mr. Rodgers telling them to shuffle their feet.

Several team sources felt Stevens was more aggressive with certain players this season, which included Walker who was criticized for his defensive mistakes. Those sources said Walker and Stevens began to butt heads..

In addition to Brad barking up the wrong tree with Kemba it apparently wronged “prominent members in Celtics locker room” (Brown and Tatum) that Marcus Smart was getting preferential treatment. Well, that would erk me too. Smart thinks he’s A.I. stepping over Ty Lue most of the time.

And the big whopper, Blake Griffin was told not to join the Celtics this season by a current player (Tristan Thompson for sure) because it was dysfunctional.

According to a source, Brooklyn’s Blake Griffin asked a Celtics player if he should join the team midseason and was told not to come to Boston because of the apparent dysfunction.

So to nobodies surprise the 2021 Boston Celtics were a mess internally undeniably leading to their underachieving season. Now Brad Stevens as the ex-coach who his players had fired is in charge of making everyone play nice in the sandbox again? Fine.

So, the first move is dump Kemba’s salary and look ahead to 2022. Open enough space up for a max spot. Bradley Beal anybody? More on that in a second. Let’s not forget about the great Al Horford coming back to town. Stevens loves himself some Horford. I do believe he will be a contributor in 2021, but like everything else we’ve labored over until this point, it doesn’t matter.

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The Celtics have a Tatum problem. Jayson Tatum showed the fuck out in the Playoffs. I had my doubt on his commitment level and frankly I still do, but there is no denying he has the potential to be a top 10 or 5 player in this league. Even if he doesn’t you’re fucked anyway. All of your eggs need to be and are in the Tatum basket. He is the Celtic’s future. Does he want to be?

Brad can open $50 million in cap space, he can trade Marcus Smart’s hot air bullshit away, he can flip Horford for a dancing pony slinging ZJ’s. Not a damn thing matters if Tatum wants out of Boston.

Quick aside :Kyrie has a new book coming out, surprise surprise.

A segment in that book is about his time in Boston and how that rat fuck colluded behind the Celtics back MID SEASON to go to Brooklyn with KD. All this after he told the TD Garden crowd he was coming back until a conversation with Bill Russell. Mr. Russell told Kyrie how truly awful Boston was, and how the people treated him like shit, and it was just the worst place to be… in the 1960s!

Not sure if you’ve heard but Kyrie and Tatum are buddies. He stayed to party in NYC with the Nets after they wiped the floor with him.

All this is to say, this NBA is what it is. The players dictate where they want to go and the top percentage of the league are essentially mercenaries. Thanks Lebron. So, we will fill the air with all the moves Brad and the Celtics make and should make over this off season and up coming year and that’s all well and good. With this first move in the Brad Stevens Era it looks like he may know it’s about bringing in another superstar instead of losing one. And who’s to say Tatum didn’t shoot old Happy Days a text asking for his babysitter come 2022? Set it up, back up the Brinks truck for Beal. But, none of it matters unless Tatum wants to be a Celtic. I’m just sayin’