Kemba Walker‘s free agency will be a fascinating situation to watch this offseason, since it’s hard to determine what the best-case scenario is for the Hornets, writes Yaron Weitzman of Bleacher Report. Re-signing Walker to a maximum salary contract would limit Charlotte’s ability to acquire help around him, but one scout thinks the Hornets would “be like an expansion team” without him, per Weitzman.
Complicating matters further? Walker will become eligible for a super-max contract, worth an extra $30MM+ over five years, if he earns a spot on this year’s All-NBA teams, which is a distinct possibility. Only the Hornets could offer him that super-max, but doing so would mean paying the point guard an average of $44MM annually through 2023/24.
“It’d be like the John Wall deal,” one front office source told Weitzman. “They should have traded him last year, when his value was high. They could have just reset.”
With lucrative deals for Bismack Biyombo, Marvin Williams, and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist all set to come off the Hornets’ books in 2020, the team wouldn’t necessarily be mired in salary-cap hell for years if it re-signs Walker. Still, there’d be no obvious way to add a capable No. 2 option behind the point guard anytime soon.
“The surrounding pieces aren’t so bad,” another front office source said to Weitzman. “They just need another guy in there so they can all slide down a role.”
Here’s more from around the Southeast:
- In the view of David Aldridge of The Athletic, the time is right for the Wizards to trade Bradley Beal and go all-in on a rebuild. While a Beal-less Wizards squad would be terrible in the short term, it’s the franchise’s best route to contention in the long term, Aldridge argues.
- In his final NBA season, Dwyane Wade was an effective bench scorer off the bench for the Heat, averaging 15.0 PPG, good for second on the team. With Wade no longer around, Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald examines how Miami might look to replace his scoring in its second unit, taking into account the club’s limited cap flexibility.
- The Hawks and Hornets each hosted pre-draft workouts for prospects on Wednesday, the teams announced in a pair of press releases. Atlanta took a look at Ky Bowman (Boston College), Armoni Brooks (Houston), Steven Enoch (Louisville), Caleb Martin (Nevada), Garrison Mathews (Lipscomb), and Kaleb Wesson (Ohio State), while Charlotte auditioned Nicolas Claxton (Georgia), Chris Clemons (Campbell), Hassani Gravett (South Carolina), Dewan Hernandez (Miami), Ronshad Shabazz (Appalchian State), and Lagerald Vick (Kansas).
Kemba on a Super Max is a very bad idea.
wiz actually resembled a decent-rebuilding team with beal at the helm.. wall should be shipped to the lakers. build that wall!
In theory they would love to deal Wall, unfortunately it’s just not realistic
It’s gonna be around the 2021 trade deadline before its even feasible. There’s no team who is going trade for him unless they see him produce on that ankle beforehand.
Only way you dump Wall is you match up with a team going into rebuild and you’re offering up several unprotected 1s and they have a couple expiring contracts to send back. Like the Nets Celtica deal.
Pelicans could be that team honestly. If they were to deal AD to the Celtics. Shipping Jrue off would be the next order of business.
Jrue + Hill + ET for Wall + 4 unprotected 1sts and prob some 2s. Money works if the 15% trade kicker goes towards salary matching on the Wiz side.
Wiz can run Jrue and Beal together, basically keep trying to compete. Pelicans get 6th overall pick this year + future picks. Never know where they will land. Injuries happen to everyone, Wiz were a playoff team.
And Wall could always make a return.
Four firsts seems like a lot. It would be cheaper to keep Wall until the start of the 2021 season, showcase him, and see who bites.
Worst case, you can stretch him after the deadline and see what kind of money he gets the following season. You only lose 17 million a season or so, which will probably be a little more than the full mid-level the way things are going.
Of course, you’re not going to be a playoff threat, but that’s true either way.
18.6 if the stretched him after next year for 7 years. That’s a long time to have 18.6M dead cap.
If they did the deal, they would only have Jrue and Beal under contract at ab 60M total. You can build around those 2 guards at that price.
So if you stretched Wall on March 1st 2021, you’d be stretching his next 2 seasons over 5 seasons at 18.1 million per. But any deals that Wall signs after he’s stretched can reduce the cap hit further (set off). And if Wall never plays again, the Wiz can apply for an injury exclusion.
Considering insurance will pay Wall in 2019-20, there’s no good reason to trade him now. If he comes back great in 2021, you can probably trade him by taking back a slightly better contract. If he comes back awful, the Bullets should stretch him or send him home. First are more valuable than cap space when you’re rebuilding, right?
18.6 if the stretched him after next year for 7 years. That’s a long time to have 18.6M dead cap.
If they did the deal, they would only have Jrue and Beal under contract at ab 60M total. You can build around those 2 guards at that price.
Basing the 4 1sts off 1 1st for each year of 40m
If Dragic opts out, the Heat may inquire. He could leave for a 3/33.
Kemba to the Knicks along with KD & Zion