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All-Star point guard Kemba Walker and the Charlotte Hornets have had sizable gaps and a stalemate in conversations so far, which has opened a pathway for competitors like the Boston Celtics, New York Knicks and the Dallas Mavericks, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.
According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, the Celtics lead the race in the Walker sweepstakes, emerging as the frontrunners to sign the All-NBA guard once free agency opens on June 30th.
The Hornets have been intent in keeping salaries down, even after Walker openly welcomed taking less than the supermax to stay in Charlotte. General manager Mitch Kupchak insisted that even if the Hornets were to keep Walker in the offseason, the front office would try to keep costs down and stay below the luxury tax — a proposition that likely isn't sitting well with a veteran point man that's hoping to win.
The Celtics are expecting to lose Kyrie Irving and Al Horford in free agency and quickly needed to pivot to a contingency plan — enter the second-best option available in the market in Kemba Walker.
Plugging him in would require renouncing the rights to backup Terry Rozier, which would allow Walker to slight right in at $32.7 million for his first season, leaving the Celtics with $500,000 left in cap room, assuming no more moves are made.
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Breaking down how Boston can sign Kemba Walker. pic.twitter.com/AY1BXPxdNi
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) June 27, 2019
Walker, like Irving, is a scoring point guard with excellent playmaking instincts and plenty of shifty crossover moves to dazzle the TD Garden as Irving did for the past two seasons.
The Knicks have been chasing Walker for quite a few years now, but not this intently until recent months, when it became obvious a potential breakup with Charlotte could happen.
The Mavs have aimed to get a quality starting point guard to run with the new frontcourt of Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis, but their finances could be tight if they indeed give the latter a five-year max extension this summer.
All in all, the Celtics under Danny Ainge have put themselves in the best position to snatch Walker away from The Queen City, likely to retool around Walker if they do get him as an unrestricted free agent in a few days.
