Kemba Walker worked out a buyout agreement with the Oklahoma City Thunder so he could go sign with the New York Knicks. It turns out Walker gave up a huge bag in order to go play for his hometown team, with the point guard giving back $20 million as part of the buyout.
Here are the details:
Kemba Walker gave up $20M total in his buyout/waiver with the Oklahoma City Thunder, sources tell @spotrac.
Walker gave up $9,777,778 in 2021-22 and $10,222,222 in 2022-23.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) August 9, 2021
Reminder about set-off (the process where some of the player's next contract comes off the previous contract's amount):
It's not automatically in every buyout/waiver.
In addition, set-off is not applied until after the season completes. So, no further cap relief for OKC in 21-22. https://t.co/ErW21orzk7— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) August 9, 2021
Kemba Walker signed a four-year, $141 million deal with the Boston Celtics in 2019, but knee injuries marred his two-year stint with the club. The Celtics traded Walker to the Thunder earlier this offseason, and OKC explored the trade market before deciding to buy him out.
The veteran point guard got a two-year deal worth roughly $18 million with New York, so he's not quite making up what he gave up to the Thunder in the buyout. Walker hopes to bolster a Knicks offense that struggled mightily in a first-round series loss against the Atlanta Hawks. When healthy, Walker is still a dynamic scorer at point guard, but the nagging knee injury has been an issue.
This past season, Walker averaged 19.3 points, 4.9 assists and 4.0 rebounds in 31.8 minutes per game. The 31-year-old shot 42.0% overall from the field and 36.0% from 3-point range in 43 games.
Kemba Walker isn't too long removed from scoring over 25 points per game with the Charlotte Hornets. The point guard probably won't ever get to that level again, but he can help New York. The Knicks will try to take the next step after their surprise playoff appearance in 2020-21.
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