NBA free agency 2022: Kemba Walker negotiating buyout with Detroit Pistons
The Detroit Pistons and point guard Kemba Walker are finalizing a buyout of his contract that will make the four-time NBA All-Star a free agent once he clears waivers, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
Walker averaged 11.6 points (on 40/37/85 shooting splits), 3.5 assists and three rebounds in 25.6 minutes over 37 games as a starter for the New York Knicks last season. The 32-year-old did not play in the final 22 games of last season, opting to rest a sore left knee that has derailed a great career since January 2020.
Walker left the Charlotte Hornets in 2019 to join the Boston Celtics on a four-year, $140.8 million contract in free agency. He made his fourth All-Star team three months into his Celtics tenure, before re-aggravating the knee that thrice previously required surgery. He has not been the same player for more than two years.
Following his 2019-20 campaign, Walker received a stem cell injection into the knee, which cost him the first month of the following season. He frequently rested throughout the 2020-21 season and sat Boston's final two games of a first-round playoff loss. The Celtics unloaded the two years remaining on Walker's deal, plus a first-round pick, in exchange for Al Horford from the Oklahoma City Thunder in June 2021.
The Thunder bought out $54 million of the $74 million Walker was still owed on his contract, and the veteran recouped $18 million of that salary in a two-year contract with his hometown Knicks. New York shed more draft capital in a three-team, draft-day trade last week to unload that deal on the Detroit Pistons.
Wherever he lands in free agency now, Walker will be paid $27.4 million from the Thunder, whatever portion of the $9.2 million he negotiates from the Pistons and his next contract from a new team, all for this season.
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Ben Rohrbach is a staff writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at rohrbach_ben@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach
