Four reasons the Phoenix Suns should avoid Kemba Walker
By Adam Maynes
What about the cost?
The Suns could trade their own pick to Charlotte who would gleefully accept as they will likely not receive a trade offer including a first round pick as high as the Suns’. Then, one can safely presume that the pick’s current position (top-8 at this moment, and rising) is likely to slide with the acquisition of Kemba, thus the net result wouldn’t be too much of a loss of value from Phoenix’s perspective.
From there, however, then what? Unless the Suns shipped off multiple first round picks or a young player as sweeteners, there really isn’t a contract that the Hornets would want that would provide Phoenix with the requisite cap space to make an additional move (or more) this offseason to add to the back court tandem of Booker and Walker. Some have proposed that the Hornets must take on Greg Monroe’s contract. However, while his contract and Kemba’s are somewhat similar in per year cost (this season it is $17.7M+ whereas Kemba’s is $12M), Monroe’s ends after this season, thus the cap space netted would be negligible – rather than $17M+ in savings, the Suns would have about $5.7M+ before any additional moves are made.
Kemba too only has next season remaining on his currently affordable contract and will need an extension that will cost somewhere around twice what he currently makes (at least $20M for sure). Phoenix would thus have even less cap space available to them to make subsequent moves in the summer of 2019, even after both Jared Dudley and Tyson Chandler’s contracts end following the 2018-19 season – not to mention, Devin Booker will be receiving a max contract come the summer of 2019 as well eating up some of that savings immediately.
Whereas if Phoenix is lucky enough to select either Young or Doncic, and we obviously presume that they are both good, they will both be under rookie contracts for the following four years, through the 2021-22 season, meaning that after both Dudley and Chandler are wiped from the cap, McDonough will have far more money to play with to add veteran pieces who will be required to make significantly more money than if he had Kemba under contract.