During the 2022 NBA Draft, Kemba Walker was traded from the New York Knicks to the Detroit Pistons. Detroit also acquired the 13th pick of the draft in the trade, which turned into Memphis’ Jalen Duren. Without suiting up for a game with his new team, the veteran point guard is set to be waived, per Shams Charania of the Athletic.
The Detroit Pistons are likely to waive four-time All-Star Kemba Walker before Monday’s deadline to set regular season roster, sources tell me and @JLEdwardsIII. The move will bring Detroit’s roster to 15 guaranteed spots.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 14, 2022
This was expected to happen sooner or later. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Walker and the Pistons began negotiating a buyout deal immediately after getting traded.
In 37 games for the Knicks last year, the four-time All-Star guard averaged 11.6 points, 3.5 assists, and 3.0 rebounds on 40.3 percent shooting from the field. Although these were decent numbers, New York Coach Tom Thibodeau took Walker out of the rotation, although he ultimately re-inserted him while the Knicks fought through a COVID outbreak. The Knicks and Walker agreed to sideline the former UConn guard for the year.
The 32-year-old still believes he has a lot more left in the tank, but no team has reached out to him yet.
“As far as closing my career, I’ve got a few more years left, in my opinion,” said Walker in a recent interview with the Boston Globe. “We’ll see. I’m just waiting. (Nobody’s) reached out to me. I’m just waiting.”
Once waivers are cleared, Cardiac Kemba will be a free agent as teams begin finalizing their rosters, with the regular season rapidly approaching next week.
