NBA Rumors: Kemba Walker is willing to take less than the max in order to help the Charlotte Hornets build around him. This seems like hope for Charlotte.
Kemba Walker is part of that second tier of free agents that will be one of the most sought after free agents, once Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and Kawhi Leonard decide on what they plan to do this summer.
Even though he might not be the first option for a lot of teams this summer, there’s no question that he’s one of the best players in this year’s free agency class, and clearly the second best point guard on the open market.
However, as should come as a surprise to no one, the Charlotte Hornets would much rather re-sign him to a long-term extension than have to deal with other teams courting him.
While the likes of the Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks and others will likely be hot on his trail, the Hornets will no question put on the full press to bring back the face of their franchise. And, if you take his word as any indication as to where he might be leaning, there seems to be a good chance that he will return to Charlotte.
In his words, Kemba would even weigh the option of taking less than the max in an attempt to ease things for the Hornets so they could continue to build around him.
I asked Kemba Walker if he would take less than the Super Max to help #Hornets team build around him: “Yeah I would take less. Sure why not. I would take less.” pic.twitter.com/3vzNWw8Ntf
— Nick Carboni (@NickCarboniWCNC) June 13, 2019
Kemba is eligible for the supermax contract that we’ve already seen numerous veteran All-NBA players take over the last couple of seasons, but would do Charlotte a huge favor if he would take less and allow them to save some cash for other possible moves.
The Hornets have missed the playoffs three straight seasons and, if you remember, just fell short in their pursuit of Marc Gasol at the NBA Trade Deadline. There’s no question that Kemba wants to win. The question is whether or not he believes he’ll be able to do that in a Hornets uniform or not.
But make no bones about this, the fact that he is even entertaining the idea of taking less than the max is a good sign for Charlotte.
The market will be there for Kemba. He’ll have options. The decision is his.