Charlotte Hornets boss Mitch Kupchak is stuck in a peculiar spot right now. On one hand he’s got to love watching Kemba Walker emerge as a superstar. Even if Kupchak’s intent is to trade the soon-to-be-free agent, that will do nothing but drive up the cost for opposing teams. That said, there aren’t very many contending teams that have the assets available to land a player of Walker’s ilk as it is.
The Celtics have a boatload of first round picks to dangle, as well as a young talent like former No. 3 overall pick Jaylen Brown. But Boston, like so many other teams around the NBA, is fully set at the point guard position with Kyrie Irving ready to re-up.
The Spurs and Bucks are two teams that could use an upgrade at the point guard position, but neither team has the type of trade-able assets that would get a deal done for Walker at this juncture.
One wild card to keep in mind ahead of the trade deadline is the Raptors, who also have given up the brunt of their assets in previous trades. But, there is a train of thought in Toronto that the feud between Masai Ujiri and Kyle Lowry is so bad at this point that Ujiri may have to start to think about trading the four-time All-Star point guard.
“[Ujiri] is the president of basketball operations and that’s it. He does his job. I do my job,” Lowry recently told ESPN. “I felt betrayed [by the DeMar DeRozan trade] because [DeRozan] felt betrayed. That’s my best friend.”
If Kawhi Leonard flees this summer, Lowry will surely feel abandoned up North and the Raptors will soon have to put Lowry on the block anyway. If Ujiri swapped Lowry for Walker straight-up then he would get back a second mercenary in this season that seems like a mercenary “get to the Finals at all costs” mission.
Even if they fell short of that goal, the Raptors could essential clear the books this summer if they saw Leonard and Walker leave this summer.
The Lakers are another team to watch in the Walker trade market but it seems right now that they will play things conservatively for this season, at least. Los Angeles would rather not have to trade away any of its young talent right now and instead supplement that talent with All-Star level veterans this coming summer. Perhaps Walker is in their free agency plans, but a trade for the former UConn star right seems like a longshot.
One last team to watch when it comes to the Walker market is the 76ers, who actually do have the assets available to land the point guard. Walker is essentially the finished version of what Philly thought Markelle Fultz would be, and would be a perfect addition to the nucleus of Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons and Jimmy Butler. Of course, Fultz is on the block right now.
Charlotte is currently 11-13 and owns the eight spot in the Eastern Conference playoff picture. If things go south soon, expect the market for Walker to heat up in a hurry.
