How the Knicks Could Land Kemba Walker

The NBA trade season is here, and the #WojBombs have started.

I started thinking of potential trade partners for the Charlotte Hornets once that tweet by Adrian Wojnarowski dropped this morning, because we all know Woj doesn’t mess around.  On a side note, #WojBombs and #ShamWows (Shams Charania) alerts get me so excited, but that is neither here or there.  Anyways, trading Kemba Walker makes a lot of sense right now for this Hornets team. The worst thing the Hornets can do is stay stuck in NBA hell (mediocrity), and lose Kemba for nothing when his deal is up.

So who is the perfect trade partner for the Hornets? Well, the New York Knicks, that’s who! Kemba would get to go back home (Bronx native), and in case you forgot, he loves playing at Madison Square Garden. Kemba has had a lot of highlights at MSG, but here’s one of my favorites:

Once I worked out the deal in my head, I had to make sure it was realistic money-wise. I got the seal of approval after plugging it into ESPN’s Trade Machine.  This Trade is Successful!

Charlotte would get:

Frank Ntilikina (4 years, $3.5 million)

Ron Baker (2 years, $4.3 million)

Kyle O’Quinn (2 years, $4.0 million)

Knicks 2018 draft pick (likely in the 14-20 range)

New York would get:

Kemba Walker (2 years, $12 million)

This deal or any variation of it, would be a win-win for both teams. Charlotte would win in 2 ways.  Not only would the Hornets get a young PG in Ntilikina and a future 1st that they could build around, but they would immediately become much worse without Kemba, thus improving their own pick next year.

The Knicks would be giving up their 1st round pick from this year, but the trade would make them better right away, and potentially for the future. Kemba is still a relatively young PG (27) on a nice contract ($12 million/year), and why wouldn’t he want to stay in New York if things go well?  The Knicks would be able to pair Kemba Walker and Kristaps Porzingis together for a sweet 1-2 punch for years to come, and have a great core to build around.  Now the only thing left to do, is for MJ to pull the trigger on this deal.