Kemba Walker has agreed to a four-year, $141 million contract to join the Boston Celtics, ending his run as a Charlotte Hornets legend and icon.
Well — we knew it was coming. Rumors have been swirling around for days regarding Charlotte Hornets star Kemba Walker‘s interest in joining the Boston Celtics, and now, it’s become a reality. For the first time in eight years, the Hornets will form a roster that doesn’t include the franchises all-time leading scorer in Walker.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski was one of the first reporting on the move.
Walker, who was eligible for a five-year, $221 million supermax contract from the Hornets, even told the team that he would be willing to take less money. Unfortunately, the Hornets took that statement and ran with it, offering their point guard (who was already on a bargain contract, by the way) less than $170 million.
The regular maximum contract that the Hornets could have given him was $190 million, so it was seen by many to be kind of a low blow offer. It had to have disappointed not only the fans, but Walker himself as well.
Throughout the entire 2018-19 season, Walker consistently let it be known that he wanted to remain with the Hornets. Charlotte is the team that drafted him and the place where he grew up and became a man. The love is clearly still evident, but if contract negotiations didn’t prove it, it was time for both sides to move their separate ways.
While seeing Walker go is heartbreaking for the majority of the fan base, it’s time to embrace the youth and move on. Walker will be able to play for a true playoff contender in Boston, while the Hornets get to hit the reset button and try this rebuild again.
In eight years with the Charlotte Hornets, Walker owns career-averages of 19.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 5.5 assists. During the 2018-19 season, Walker was named an All-Star starter for the first time and averaged a career-high 25.6 points to go along with 4.4 rebounds and 5.9 assists.
Unfortunately, the Hornets made just two playoff appearances during Walker’s tenure with the team. They played the Miami Heat on both occasions (2014 and 2016) but failed to get out of the first round.
The Hornets do have some solid young pieces to build around in Miles Bridges, Dwayne Bacon, Malik Monk and PJ Washington, but this will likely be a very difficult 2019-20 season for them without Walker.
Even if they make some additions in Free Agency, like Boston’s Terry Rozier, for instance — Charlotte is still going to be projected as a bottom team in the league, and one of the favorites to land a top pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.
Remember, though, with the NBA’s new Draft Lottery changes, tanking has been pretty much eliminated from the equation. Two contributors here at Swarm and Sting, De White and Daniel Abee have already looked ahead to what’s next for Charlotte and the future of the franchise.
Charlotte Hornets fans will have a tough time forgetting this day, but hopefully in the end, everything works out for both sides. I know that I will be excited to see Walker in the playoffs, and hopefully the Hornets can make the right decisions this time around and build a winning team from the ground up.
Thank you, Kemba. Thank you for all your contributions to the city of Charlotte and the Hornets franchise.