10:55am: Walker’s new deal is worth $18MM over two years, sources tell Mike Vorkunov and Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
9:40am: The Knicks have officially signed free agent point guard Kemba Walker, the team announced today in a press release. It’s a homecoming for Walker, who was born and raised in the Bronx.
“We are beyond thrilled to bring native New Yorker Kemba Walker back to the city he’s proud to call home. He’s a tremendous talent whose skill and leadership will be a huge addition to our organization,” Knicks president of basketball operations Leon Rose said in a statement. “We’ve already seen how well he performs on The Garden stage and can’t wait to witness it on a nightly basis in front of his family, friends, and the best fans in the league.”
Word first broke last Wednesday that Walker had agreed to a buyout with the Thunder and was planning to sign with the Knicks. Oklahoma City officially placed the Walker on waivers on Friday after the two sides finalized a buyout agreement that saw the 31-year-old give up $20MM of the $73MM+ left on his contract.
Walker’s new deal with the Knicks is expected to cover two seasons and be worth about $8-9MM annually, as reported last week by Ryan McDonough of NBC Sports Boston (Twitter link).
Walker, who was traded from Boston to Oklahoma City in June, was limited to 43 games for the Celtics in 2020/21 due to knee issues, but put up strong numbers in the games he played, averaging 19.3 PPG, 4.9 APG, and 4.0 RPG on .420/.360/.899 shooting in 31.8 minutes per contest.
The four-time All-Star will join a Knicks backcourt that also features Derrick Rose, Immanuel Quickley, Alec Burks, and second-round pick Miles McBride.
New York has been a little slower than some teams in finalizing the free agent deals it agreed to during the moratorium — the order of operations is crucial for the Knicks, who are completing most of their signings using cap space. The team officially completed Nerlens Noel‘s deal on Tuesday and have now finalized Walker’s too. The others – including Rose, Burks, and Evan Fournier – will likely be announced soon.
People act like he gave up a lot lol. He still got 53 million to not play for a franchise…..system is seriously wack that you can get paid to not play. If he didn’t sign with knicks he would have made 53 million sitting a home. Insane
He gave up 20 mil, but two years at 9 mil per is 18 mil, so its just 2 mil to play for a team of his choice.
Blake and Aldridge gave up much more last year.
You are the only person I have heard say that he gave up a lot.
I mean, he did give back a lot to the Thunder — I think it was the third-biggest buyout amount ever. He was just in position to get more of it back on a new deal than most other bought-out players would be.
He didn’t give up much, and he got his desired outcome. He played it well. Everyone won in this scenario. System worked as intended.
20 mill is more than the 10 bucks in your pocket. You’re so poor, when you transfer from your checking to savings you just switch pockets.
Crickets
If someone wants to leave money on the table in order to work in a place the employee feels most wanted and brings him or her more personal joy and opportunity for success, more power to that person.
He had to take less to get out of there. He was on a tight time table to ensure the Knicks still had cap room. Drawn out negotiations could have severely limited his options.
He’s where he wants to be. Good for him.
He signed a guaranteed contract. It’s what the Market pays for his talents. Get over it already.
As a real fan. The most important thing to watch is that left knee. Will it hold up with treatment. Will it hold up with rest, mins managed. I look at it like this. Even at 85% the player he was. He’s still a top talent. And still will give us 30 mins a gm. We will need him most for playoffs. Knicks are deep at PG. So they don’t have to push him to play.
We can let him heal right. Then set a course with him. For next two yrs. I know playing at home is a big motivator for him. I just don’t want to see him overextend himself cause of it. There might be days when he will have to sit. I just want to get him as healthy and as strong as possible. So Go get it Kemba, you know the whole city is with you.
I know we are kind of full at guard. Especially after draft. DDJr was a lottery pick in beginning of draft yr. I guess cause he was a Junior. And his team not doing well. He dropped out, and just kept dropping. Seems today upside with young guys is a real measuring stick. So he fell out of draft altogether. Imo he is a 1st rd talent. He’s a 2way guy. And was listed at PG. Was really more a combo guard. It’s cause his college team needed him to score. I’d like to see him stay at PG. Well he’s starting to show out for Nets. Wish the Knicks would of signed him.
link to nypost.com
Does anyone know if John Wall is a buy out option soon? I think I’d rather have Wall on the Knicks more than Walker.
Rockets too cheap to buy him out. Plus he gets healthy they can trade him next yr. It’ll be his last yr on contract. He’s got time to build his value back up.
David Duke is off the market, but Dolph Hilter is still unsigned.
So, Instead of making 73-mil over the next 2 seasons, he’s only making a mere 71-mill…what a travesty!!! ;)