Kemba Walker is playing himself off of the Phoenix Suns
By Adam Maynes
Is Kemba really THAT good?
While I still do not think that Walker is the answer for the Suns because of his scorer first mentality and lack of higher assist numbers (even Stephon Marbury had a career average of 7.6 per game while averaging 19.3 points, and an 8.1 per game average in his 2+ seasons with the Suns – who like Charlotte were not true playoff threats in those years), you will hear no argument from me that he would be a huge upgrade over Isaiah Canaan and company, while also being a star draw should he join the Suns, potentially enticing another star to join up alongside.
But while Kemba was always a nice point guard in the past (he averaged an even 22.0 points per game over his last three seasons), a player who is suddenly going to average close to 30 a game while dropping 40+ every couple of weeks and 60 once a year or so, is going to be a huge draw for teams starving for stars and the cap space to max out such an impressive scorer.
Think Isaiah Thomas once he joined the Boston Celtics – although hopefully minus any surprising injuries.
While last season Michael Jordan said that he would only trade Walker for an All-Star, he was obviously just trying to raise the level of offers that he was fielding from opposing executives – executives are not dumb and realize that Kemba is not a star to build a team around but rather a supplemental piece to add to a core and are therefore not going to give up equal talent to acquire him.
The Suns have been connected to Kemba since last season and one has to imagine that former General Manager Ryan McDonough made a few calls to Jordan the Hornets to see about his cost and availability.
Obviously nothing came to fruition, likely because of Jordan’s asking price, but also because of the fact that Kemba is facing unrestricted free agency and if things did not work out in Phoenix he could just as easily jump ship and sign with a franchise elsewhere leaving Phoenix without a starting point guard (again) and whatever assets they moved in order to acquire him in the first place.
This leaves Phoenix in the position that every other team in the league (including the Charlotte Hornets) will be in this summer in regards to Kemba, which will be begging to get a face-to-face meeting with to tempt the eight-year-pro with the core they already have in place to try and convince him that he is the piece the roster is missing.