Boston Celtics Receive: F Andre Iguodala, F/C Kelly Olynyk, G Duncan Robinson, G Kendrick Nunn, MIA 2026 1st Round Pick (Lottery-Protected)
Miami Heat Receive: G Kemba Walker, CHA 2022 2nd Round Pick (via BOS)
In order for the Miami Heat to acquire Kemba Walker via trade, they have to trade away at least $19.1M in contracts since Walker’s contract coming in is worth $34.3M this season. With this trade package, Andre Iguodala’s and Kelly Olynyk’s contracts add up to about $27.1M and make things a lot easier on the Heat as they would not be over the tax threshold this season.
If Boston was to give up Kemba Walker, they would definitely want one or two of the Miami Heat’s young players and in this scenario, they would be receiving Rookie of the Year runner-up Kendrick Nunn and sharpshooter Duncan Robinson. Both of these young players have a very bright future and with the Celtics, could develop into reliable, championship role players next to Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
Last season, Kendrick Nunn had a fantastic year after fighting for a chance at the NBA level. Nunn went undrafted in 2018 out of Oakland University and with him being an older, more established player coming out of college, he was able to earn himself a partially-guaranteed contract with the Golden State Warriors. He did not make the final roster and spent time with the Santa Cruz Warriors, their G-League affiliate, which is where the Heat originally found him and started doing some research on him.
After adding him to their Summer League team ahead of last season and giving him a chance to prove himself, Miami knew he was a special talent and signed him to their 15-man roster. Now, after averaging 15.3 points, 3.3 assists and shooting 43.9% from the floor, 35% from deep, Nunn is ready to prove he can be the future point guard for an organization.
Duncan Robinson made 270 three-pointers last season, tying Damian Lillard for third last season and finished the season shooting 44.6% from deep, which was 4th best in the league. As a result of his sharpshooting abilities from anywhere on the court, Robinson will be a sustainable player in the league for a very long-time and will be a perimeter weapon for any team he is on.
All-in-all, this trade package heavily favors the Boston Celtics as the Heat would be giving up four key role players that are all a part of their rotations. For just Kemba Walker, the Heat would probably prefer to give up just Kendrick Nunn and keep Duncan Robinson, but in doing so, they would likely have to trade away more of their limited draft capital.
In any trade that the Celtics send away Kemba, they will likely trade one or two second-round picks back to the Heat in exchange for the overhaul of players they would receive. They would do so just to even out and balance the trade a little more, especially since the Heat would be trading so many pieces to acquire the four-time NBA All-Star.
This trade is more of making the finances work so the Heat do not have to pay taxes for bringing in Kemba, but if they want to trade away less players and keep one of their young talents, they could propose this next trade to the Celtics in exchange for Walker.
