The Los Angeles Lakers, once again, have been linked with a series of players around the league, even though they don’t have the money to pay some of them, somehow fans and media members always find a way to link the Purple and Gold with certain stars.
Amid rumors suggesting that Kyrie Irving is on his way to Los Angeles, other players are available after the 2022 NBA Draft, and the Lakers could take advantage of that. In one of the trades we saw on Thursday night, Kemba Walker ended his short-lived tenure with the New York Knicks and was shipped to Detroit. The Pistons, however, don’t plan to keep Kemba and are working on a buyout that will set him free.
This situation could open the door for the Lakers, who are trying to add more firepower to their roster. Greg Swartz of Bleacher Report wrote a series of bold moves we could see in free agency. Walker joining LeBron James in Los Angeles is one of them.
Following a horrific season with the Knicks where Walker was in and out of the rotation and eventually shut down for the year in mid-February, the Knicks were able to get off the veteran guard’s contract Thursday night.
As part of a three-team trade, Walker was shipped to the Detroit Pistons in a salary-cap-saving move by New York. Per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Pistons and Walker are expected to discuss a contract buyout that will allow the 32-year-old to become a free agent.
While teams like the Washington Wizards, Brooklyn Nets (depending on Kyrie Irving’s future), Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Clippers could all use another ball-handler off the bench, Walker will undoubtedly receive a lot of recruiting from the boys in purple and gold.
With Russell Westbrook’s future with the Los Angeles Lakers in doubt and Kendrick Nunn missing the entire 2021-22 season because of injury, Walker could come in and help stabilize the point guard position next to LeBron James and Anthony Davis. If nothing else, he’s a much-needed spot-up shooter who hit 40.9 percent of his catch-and-shoot threes with the Knicks this past season.
The Lakers are extremely limited in what they can spend, so getting Walker on a minimum deal would be a great value, even if he’s no longer close to being the All-Star we saw as recently as the 2019-20 season.
Kemba can still be valuable for a team in the league. It’s not like he’ll be required to be the player he was in Charlotte or during his first days in Boston and New York. The Lakers need a piece that can put everything together and the former UConn player could be it.
However, the Lakers seem to be focused on landing Kyrie Irving right now, making things hard for Kemba. Then again, the one that could land on a minimum deal is Walker, and that could play in his favor.
