Getty Kemba Walker.
So much for the Dallas Mavericks‘ Kemba Walker experiment. After signing the free agent at the end of November, the Mavericks waived Walker on Friday. The move was likely a cost-saving one; on Saturday, non-guaranteed NBA contracts become fully guaranteed, meaning the Mavs would have been on the hook for his full $2.2 million unless the team waived him.
And just twenty minutes after ESPN’s Tim MacMahon reported that Dallas planned on waiving Walker, Walker’s former Boston Celtics teammate Jayson Tatum appeared to recruit the point guard back to Beantown.
“👀☘️☘️,” Tatum tweeted, replying to MacMahon’s report.
Walker’s run with the Celtics from 2019-21, also represents the last window in which Walker made an All-Star Game. In the two seasons since, he’s bounced around, playing with the New York Knicks before being traded to the Pistons, and ultimately ending up in Dallas this season as a free agent.
Though Dallas desperately needs a quality guard off the bench, Walker clearly didn’t do enough to cement himself as that player. Appearing in just nine of Dallas’ 20 that he was rostered for, Walker averaged 8.0 points, 2.1 assists, and 1.8 rebounds in 16 minutes per game.
The Celtics, on the other hand, have trended in the opposite direction since Walker left Boston. As it stands, Boston is one of the clear favorites to win it all, led by the excellence of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
Walker Didn’t Provide Doncic Co-Star
With Walker’s departure, the number of All-Stars on Dallas’ roster is back down to one: Luka Doncic.
According to Zach Buckley of Bleacher Report, Doncic has some of the least help around him in the league, and the Mavericks haven’t done a good enough job of assisting him.
“Dallas desperately needs a second star to help maximize Dončić’s prime and give him a real shot at championship contention,” Buckley said. “Of course, that’s been true for quite a while now, and there’s no reason to think the Mavs are any closer to finding one.”
It’s a scary fact in today’s player-driven league. What’s to stop Luka from looking around and questioning whether Dallas has what it takes to build a winner around him? Granted, Dallas made the Western Conference Finals last year, but a player of Doncic’s caliber should be contending for rings each and every season.
And it’s especially incumbent upon the front office to prove it’s up to the task of building a winner.
Mavs Facing ‘Two-Year’ Window to Keep Luka
And according to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon, the Mavericks’ time to build a winner around Doncic is quickly running out.
Coach Kidd after waiving Kemba just to play McKinley Wright over Jaden Hardy anyway
“I think [the Mavericks] have a two-year window,” McMahon said on the Hoop Collective podcast last month. “This season and next season going into that [2024] summer. I think they have a two-year window where, you know, like Milwaukee did with Giannis [Antetokounmpo], I think in that window they really need to convince Luka that he has a chance to contend year in and year out right here in Dallas. If they can’t get it done in that two-year window, I’m not going to sit here and tell you that he’s going to force a trade or ask for a trade. I’m just saying at that point if he’s not happy, he has all the leverage in the world if he would be looking to leave.”
How can the Mavericks keep Luka happy? Maybe by taking a yet another Kristaps Porzingis-sized swing on a superstar. Zach LaVine, anyone?
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Ex-Teammate Calls Out Kemba Walker After Shocking Mavericks Release