Could Moses Brown End Up Being More Than A Throw-In For The Boston Celtics?
(Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images) Getty Images  So the Boston Celtics felt they actually did need to trade Kemba Walker after all. Now, the primary reason that newly promoted general manager Brad Stevens sent Walker, this years first-round NBA draft pick and a 2025 second-round pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Al Horford, a second-round pick and Moses Brown was for salary cap reasons. It is also quite possible that Horford will bring with him some veteran leadership, something which was sorely lacking from last seasons Celtics squad, and hey he still can probably play a little bit. Now, where does that leave us with Moses Brown: will the young big man bring anything to the team or is he a mere throw-in for a trade that was always primarily a purely financial transaction. If theres a reason that the Celtics zeroed in on Brown, its probably thanks to their tendency to fall in love with players who have monster games against them. On March 27, the center went off for 21 points and a whopping 23 rebounds in a 111-94 Thunder loss to the Celtics. Clearly this performance was an outlier, as the two-way player averaged 8.6 points and 8.9 rebounds per game for the season, numbers he was mostly putting up during Oklahoma Citys end of the season stretch where they were constructing rosters with the idea of losing as many games as possible. During this time, mind you, that the Thunder was not playing Horford at all, giving Brown plenty of minutes he won't have here. In total, Brown played just 43 games with almost all of them taking place after the All-Star break. Browns biggest attributes are probably his physical tools, as the 21-year-old is 7-foot-2 and 245 pounds. As stated previously, hes not had a lot of time in the NBA but, as Boston.coms Paul Swydan broke down following the trade, hes collected an impressive amount of rebounds within a small sample size. Swydan was quick to point out, however, that his Defensive Rating was well below average, although he's shown a knack at defending the rim. He also took exactly zero three-pointers, so the Celtics probably arent going to rely on him stretching the floor by any means. If theres one thing that the Brown acquisition could mean its that the Celtics moving on from Tristan Thompson. The Celtics nearly parted with Thompson during this years trade deadline to devote more playing time to Robert Williams before parting ways with Daniel Theis (a move that, ultimately, made more financial sense than basketball sense). As Forbes.coms own Sean Deveney has pointed out, making the move for Horford has effectively squeezed Thompson out of the lineup. If were looking at the most pressing reason Celtics made a move for Brown, it very much feels like he could end up just filling Thompson's role should the team move on. MORE FROM FORBES Al Horford Gives New-Look Boston Celtics An Old Problem: Big-Guy Logjam  Heres the thing though: Brown is a long-term project. After his breakout game against the Celtics, the Thunder extended his contract so that hell be making less than $2 million per year over the next three seasons, with the 2023-24 season being a team option. Given the fact that Boston has struggled to fall below the salary cap of late, Brown is a low-risk prospect who can fill a role at a reasonable price. While we may not see Brown much next year, especially if they dont find a place to send Thompson, he could be a player to keep an eye on in the not-so-far future.