Los Angeles Lakers: Tier 1 free agents to target
By Ethan Temkin
4. Kemba Walker
The Charlotte point guard is coming off another career year that earned him a Third Team All-NBA selection, a starting spot in the All-Star game, and a career high in points per game at 25.6.
To be fair, the concerns with signing Kemba Walker to a max deal have some weight to them. He’ll be entering his age 29 season, and as a short point guard, age is not kind to those kinds of players. The prospect of paying Kemba Walker $37.6M in his age 32 season is a tough pill to swallow.
But, the fact of the matter is that Kemba wouldn’t be playing for a Hornets team devoid of star talent, he’d be playing alongside a 27-year-old Anthony Davis and a practically ageless LeBron James.
That makes a huge difference when it comes to effectiveness on the court as well as the wear and tear of being forced to be a number one option night in and night out like he was in Charlotte.
Offensively, Kemba is lethal in practically every facet. His first step is one of the quickest in the league and has the ability to play in both an on-ball and off-ball capacity. Kemba shot around 50% of his 3-pointers off the dribble, at a modest 35.6%, but from the mid-range, Kemba shot 44% which puts him in the 72nd percentile amongst all point guards.
Switch Kemba to a secondary ball-handler behind LeBron James, who has an uncanny ability to find guys in the right spots, as well as take the offensive burden off Kemba, and you can expect his shooting efficiency to skyrocket.