Getty Kemba Walker is giving the Pistons trouble.
The New York Knicks had a wild few days leading up to free agency as they traded away many of their veteran pieces in order to free up cap space to sign Jalen Brunson.
In the end, New York was able to steal away the point guard from the Dallas Mavericks, so all of those moves made sense. While an investigation was subsequently opened up into the franchise after the signing, many fans would still agree it makes sense unless the Knicks are docked a first-round pick.
One of the moves made to get Brunson in town was shipped former starting point guard Kemba Walker to the Detroit Pistons in a salary dump. Walker was sent there along with Alec Burks, but the plan for the Pistons was to keep Burks and buyout the point guard.
That does remain the plan for Detroit, but The Athletic’s James Edwards III reports there’s a hangup in that plan and it’s on Walker’s end.
Walker Not Accepting Buyout
The Pistons do want to release Walker, but the point guard is hesitant because he might not have a team lined up ready to sign him. According to Edwards, this could cause things to play out a bit longer than expected.
“Walker has yet to officially agree to the terms of the buyout because, well, a player usually takes a buyout when he’s sure that he can sign with another team and make up some of the money he gave back,” he wrote. “So, if you read the tea leaves, it sounds like Walker is unsure that another team out there is interested in his services at this exact point in time.”
Being removed from the rotation twice from a team that didn’t even sniff the playoffs obviously wasn’t good for Walker’s value, but it’s tough to imagine there’s not a single roster out there that couldn’t fit the point guard in there. If Walker is trying to latch on with a team and win a championship, things are looking grim at the moment.
While there’s next to nothing there on the defensive end at this stage in his career, Walker could still provide a scoring punch off the bench. Teams like the Lakers and the Clippers make sense, and the Clippers were actually a team that were expected to make a move.
Clippers Out of the Running?
Before the Knicks moved Walker, the Clippers were reportedly in the running according to an NBA general manager speaking to Heavy.com’s Sean Deveney.
“I would put the Clippers down as a lock to be willing to take him into their trade exception from the (Serge) Ibaka deal if the Knicks can’t find anything for him,” said the GM in June. “The Mavericks might be willing to do something similar, but the Clippers are really hurting for a backup point guard and it feels like he is going to be the fit there.”
Obviously, that ship set sail once the Detroit trade happened, but there’s still a chance the Clippers could be lingering once Walker hits the open market. It’s tough to tell when that’ll happen at this point, but it’s highly unlikely we’ll ever see Walker put on a Pistons jersey to play.