New York Knicks: How top 2019 free agents have played in contract year

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Charlotte Hornets Kemba Walker (Photo by Brock Williams-Smith/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Kemba Walker

Age: 28
Height, Weight: 6-foot-1, 184 pounds
Slash Line: .432/.359/.833
Season Averages: 25.1 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 5.8 APG, 1.3 SPG, 0.4 BPG, 3.3 3PM
Current Contract: $12 million

The Bronx-born kid, Kemba Walker playing for the New York Knicks means a return home — even back to the place where he had that remarkable postseason run with the Connecticut Huskies in 2011. It will just take prying him from the Charlotte Hornets, who he’s played for since arriving to the NBA.

While Walker’s game has risen to 20-plus points per game heights over the past four seasons, his 2018-19 run, in a contract year, offers some of his best numbers, including a current career-high 25.1 points and 5.8 assists, which are just shy of his 6.1 mark from 2013-14.

This season also provided Walker his third straight All-Star game appearance, so he’s trending up.

It will all culminate in a raise from the minuscule $12 million he makes this season — potentially more than doubling this number with whichever team he joins. Does he have loyalty to Charlotte past this season, given this organization’s lack of success for the past eight years? Will he truly test the market?

The Knicks have Dennis Smith Jr., so they don’t necessarily need a point guard, but he’s a flawed, young player. Walker is not the perfect player, either, and could make roughly $25 million more than the player who arrived from the Dallas Mavericks via trade. There’s a pedigree behind the 28-year-old, however, which may appeal this offseason.