With free agency hours away, there are some deals that are already assumed to be done, most notably Kyrie Irving going to Brooklyn on a four-year max deal, and Kemba Walker taking the same to replace him in Boston.
However, the exact way those deals go down will be very important to the Celtics specifically, as they are trying to create enough space to potentially retain Al Horford by not having to renounce his rights and being able to re-sign him by going over the cap. There’s been a lot of talk about a mystery team for Horford, as the reported interest from the Kings is expected to be rebuffed by the All-Star big man, and the Celtics were floated earlier today by Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer as that team.
There are some league executives that believe the "mystery team" for Al Horford is…the Boston Celtics.
But keeping Horford's rights would require a number of complicated maneuvers, including a double sign-and-trade involving Kemba Walker and Terry Rozier. It wouldn't be easy. https://t.co/dCfSQcaEc4
— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) June 30, 2019
As O’Connor notes, it would take some serious salary cap magic to make this deal happen, but hours after that report, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported the Celtics had at least broached the possibility of a three-team sign-and-trade deal with the Hornets and Nets, although it was all very much in the exploratory stages.
Sources: Boston's showing interest in a 3-team sign-and-trade w/ Kyrie Irving (Nets), Kemba Walker (Celtics) and Terry Rozier (Hornets). Boston wants to create a full MLE and would likely need to surrender at least a first-round pick to Nets. So far, talks are exploratory.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 30, 2019
One has to wonder why either the Hornets or, especially, the Nets would want to do this, particularly noting that the last time the Nets dealt with Boston in ended in Brooklyn being fleeced in the worst trade of the last decade. On top of that, it’d be helping a divisional rival re-sign an All-Star caliber player that could potentially hurt Brooklyn’s chances as a contender.
Still, it makes sense Boston would try this, but there are a lot of hurdles to clear, as Jeff Siegel breaks down in a Twitter thread here, and that, coupled with the questions about whether Brooklyn would at all be motivated to help Boston, makes this seem like it has a very, very slim chance of actually happening. If it did, though, it’d be a fascinating deal and one of the strangest happenings in free agency in some time, for a three-team swap of players all at the same position in a sign-and-trade.
