Lakers Rumors: Chances of getting Kemba Walker from the Hornets side?

Kemba Walker is up for an extension. We’ve talked for years how he’s underpaid. Do the Hornets pay him? 

Nate Wimberly:

"I don’t think the Hornets can afford that.  He is taking a hometown discount, but they aren’t giving him 221 million. This will be a true negotiation. Kemba is a very loyal dude. He loves Charlotte and really wants to be here. But he wants to win too and doing that here is more difficult than in LA. If they do offer the max and he takes it, it makes improving this team even more difficult because the Hornets salary cap situation is TERRIBLE. This team has to show they are willing to do what it takes to get better but they can’t because all the money tied to players not living up to their contracts."

Nate is being very kind here. The Hornets have overpaid a lot of players that are on the back-end of their careers or have been beset with injuries. I know the Lakers fans remember the last few years of Mitch Kupchak‘s tenure with the Lakers with a roster that was stuck in purgatory.

Blame Magic Johnson if you want to but at least the Lakers have options to move this franchise forward with his moves clearing the salary cap. It took about a year and a half to clean up that mess. For the Hornets, on the other hand, it might even be worse.

The Hornets were in such a mess a couple of years ago, that Rich Cho, the former Hornets GM actually put Walker out there for feelers in possible trade talks. Then Michael Jordan tempered that noise by going on record saying that he wanted no less than an All-Star. Since that point, Kemba was in trade rumors up until the trade deadline.

Well, the Hornets have a lot of work to do. The franchise is stuck with a lot of bad contracts that are virtually immovable with Marvin Williams and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist exercising their player options this week. Nicolas Batum? Moving on.