Despite the Boston Celtics owning the best record in the Association, star player Jayson Tatum may be pushing them to make a roster move.
Veteran former All-Star Kemba Walker was waived on Friday by the Dallas Mavericks. The move comes a day before Walker’s contract with the team would have become guaranteed for the season.
In response to the news, Tatum tweeted out an eyeball emoji and a couple of clover emojis, hinting at a potential reunion between Walker and the Celtics.
👀☘️☘️ https://t.co/kijXsvlpd2
— Jayson Tatum (@jaytatum0) January 6, 2023
Walker played with Tatum in Boston for two seasons from 2019 to 2021. The high-scoring guard averaged almost 20 points per game as a Celtic, making an All-Star team in 2020 and starting throughout their Eastern Conference Finals run that year as well.
But Walker, who is now 32 with bad knees, probably wouldn’t fit in with this current iteration of the Celtics. They already have an excess of talent in their backcourt, which includes starting combo guards Derrick White and Marcus Smart, sixth man Malcolm Brogdon, and reserve Payton Pritchard. It is clear that Walker, who averaged just 8.0 points per game in nine appearances for Dallas, is not better than any of those players at this point.
Walker could always play a Udonis Haslem-esque mascot role on the Celtics. But his days of actively contributing to a contender are likely over, especially with what we heard about Walker from Mavericks management.
