![]() I would take less, yeah,” Walker said when asked if he’d take less than the supermax to help the Hornets build around him. Other NBA teams can only offer a four-year deal worth $140 million when free agency begins June 30. He told reporters at the camp, which was held at Ardrey Kell High School in south Charlotte, that his willingness to do so was to help the Hornets build a better team around him going forward.īecause Walker was named to an All-NBA team this season, the Hornets can offer him a five-year “supermax” contract worth up to $221 million – significantly more than the five-year, $190 million deal had he not been named All-NBA. Boston is such a historic place.Charlotte Hornets guard Kemba Walker has less than two weeks to go until he officially enters unrestricted free agency.Īt his basketball camp in Charlotte today, the Hornets star said he’d be open to taking less than the supermax this summer. "Obviously Kyrie left, so it was an open point guard spot. "Point guards can have great success under coach," Walker said. The deciding factor for Walker, though, was the opportunity that the Celtics presented. Had Walker committed to five full years in Charlotte, his chances at landing another big contract at 34 were fairly slim. Teams typically aren't enthusiastic about paying small guards at that age, but only a year ago, Chris Paul secured a four-year, $160 million deal from the Houston Rockets at the age of 33. That could get him to free agency again at the age of 32. Given the realistic restraints of existing in Charlotte, the Hornets simply couldn't justify making Walker an offer commensurate with his ability.Īlso worth noting: Walker has a player option for the 2022-23 season. ![]() They could have ducked under it after the fact, but doing so may have cost precious draft capital. Paying the tax would have been disastrous for them. The Hornets are one of the lowest-revenue teams in basketball, and more importantly, they haven't made the playoffs in three seasons. Signing Walker to the contract offered to him would have meant paying the tax for the first time under Michael Jordan's leadership. The luxury tax line was set at $132,627,000. Charlotte entered free agency with around $102 million in committed salary factoring in their draft picks. While the Hornets had the ability to offer more than any other team, their books were not clean enough to do so without consequence. That deal would have paid him quite a bit less on average ($32 million per year) than a max offer from another team ($142 million over four years, so $35.5 million per year). It was for less than $160 million over five years, according to Charania. Their final offer came in far lower than that. Still, if the Hornets had come close and offered a deal in the neighborhood of a traditional five-year max of $190 million, Walker was prepared to stay. ![]() I had a feeling that I wasn't going to get the offer that I wanted, and maybe not close to it, because of cap space." I couldn't see myself just being on another team. "Tough days, f-g tough days, I can't even lie," Walker told The Athletic. But due to the constraints Charlotte was operating under, Walker sensed that he wouldn't receive such an offer. Walker was eligible for a five-year deal starting at 35 percent of the salary cap, which would have totaled $221 million. As Shams Charania of the Athletic revealed on Wednesday, the Hornets just didn't make a compelling enough offer for him to stay. Walker made it clear that would have been his preference, telling Jared Weiss of the Athletic in early June that re-signing with the Hornets was his "first priority." Yet when free agency came, Walker traded in his teal uniform for green and signed with the Boston Celtics. When Kemba Walker earned third-team All-NBA honors and the accompanying supermax eligibility, the widespread belief around the league was that he would eventually come to terms with his Charlotte Hornets on a new long-term deal.
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