According to reports, the Dallas Mavericks intend to sign veteran point guard Kemba Walker in an effort to strengthen their backcourt.
Walker is currently a free agent after being waived by the Pistons in October. The 31 year old has dealt with a variety of knee injuries over the last few seasons, and posted career lows in points, minutes, assists, steals, blocks, and rebounds in 37 games with the Knicks last year.
Nevertheless, the Mavs have been in desperate need of a secondary facilitator beyond Luka Doncic since losing Jalen Brunson to New York in free agency. Dallas, who sit in 11th place in the Western Conference are 9-10 on the season and are currently riding a 4 game losing streak.
Averaging only 21.2 assists per game, the Mavericks are 28th in the league in that regard with only Orlando and Detroit (each at 21.1 assists per game) dishing out fewer on a nightly basis.
While Doncic currently leads the NBA with 33.1 points per game, Dallas is 0-6 when the young phenom doesn’t eclipse the 30pt mark. With teams increasingly focusing their defensive efforts on the 23 year old, the Dallas front office knew they had to make a move before the season slipped away.
Ironically Walker was nearly a member of the Mavericks organization back in 2019, when the club offered him a max deal which he ultimately turned down to sign with the Boston Celtics. Since then, the 4x All-Star has only suited up for 56, 43, and 37 games respectively over the last 3 seasons.
In a corresponding move Dallas is expected to waive reserve PG Facundo Campazzo who is currently playing on a non-guaranteed contract in order to free up a roster spot for Walker.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner
Photo: Keith Allison. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.