With Kyrie Irving heading to the Brooklyn Nets on a four-year max deal, the door was opened for the Boston Celtics to bring in longtime Charlotte Hornets point guard Kemba Walker on a four-year, $141 million deal in his place. Per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Walker has agreed to sign a max contract with the Celtics, a move that was widely anticipated with the two sides interest in one another growing rapidly this weekend.
Walker’s talent and intangibles will shine with the Celtics, as the fiery floor general plays a passionate brand of basketball and has grown into one of the league’s best locker room leaders. He averaged 25.6 points, 5.9 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game last season while shooting 43.4 percent from the field and 35.6 percent from three-point range.
For his career, the three-time All-Star has averaged 19.8 points, 5.5 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game while shooting 41.8 percent from the field and 35.7 percent from the field. One of the league’s premier scorers, Walker’s skillset differs from Irving’s a bit in that he’s a more dynamic off-ball scorer than his predecessor and on a team that had a stunning dearth of off-ball threats last season, that’s a change for the team to look forward to.
