Los Angeles Lakers: 4 best free agent options after Anthony Davis trade
4. Kemba Walker:
Kemba Walker’s fit with LeBron James and Anthony Davis on offense would be spectacular.
If the Lakers add Walker in free agency it would give LA three of the top-12 scorers in the NBA last season:
- LeBron James: 27.4 PPG (5th in the NBA)
- Anthony Davis: 25.9 PPG (10th in the NBA)
- Kemba Walker: 25.6 PPG (12th in the NBA)
Kemba Walker led the NBA in pick and roll attempts at 11.8 possessions per game. He wasn’t just a high volume guy either, he averaged 1.01 points per possession as the ball handler in pick and rolls, which was in the 90th percentile throughout the NBA.
A combination of Kemba Walker’s skill as the pick and roll initiator and Anthony Davis’s length and athleticism as the roll man would form a devastating recipe for the Lakers on offense.
If you add in the fact that LeBron James will be hanging out on the perimeter waiting to catch a pass from Kemba Walker and then create scoring opportunities in space, you have the makings of the best offense in the league.
The reason why Kemba Walker is the least attractive free agent prospect in these rankings for the Lakers is because of his defense.
Kemba Walker ranked 445th out of 514 qualified players in ESPN’s defensive real plus-minus, with a score of -1.48.
He also had the Hornets worst defensive net rating out of all of the regular rotation players who suited up for Charlotte. The Hornets were 3.5 points worse on the less glamorous side of the ball when Kemba Walker was on the court.
The Western Conference is loaded with talented point guards who’d love the chance to attack Kemba Walker on offense during a 7-game playoff series and at 29 years old, it’s hard to imagine Walker improving on defense.
Outside of Kemba Walker’s subpar defense, his attitude about winning is also concerning. Walker’s played eight seasons in the NBA, but he’s only played in a total of 11 playoff games. Despite the fact that the Charlotte Hornets have never managed to surround Kemba with a good roster, he seems content to sign a super-max contract with them and continue to play on a mediocre team for the foreseeable future.
If Walker’s satisfied with playing for a small market non-playoff team, could he handle the pressure of playing alongside LeBron James in LA? Kemba Walker could easily shrivel under the glare of Hollywood.