Kemba Walker and the Pistons are expected to discuss a contract buyout that will allow him to become a free agent, sources tell ESPN. Walker landed with Detroit as part of three-way trade with Charlotte and New York.
What the Knicks did tonight:
NYK trades 11th pick to OKC
OKC trades 3 firsts (23 DEN, DET, WASH) to NYK
NYK then trades 23 DEN, 4 seconds to CHA for 13th pick
NYK then trade 13th pick & Kemba Walker to DET for MKE's 25 first
NYK trades 11, Kemba, 4 2nds & gets 3 future 1sts
It's so crazy how Kemba Walker fell off a cliff, man got traded for a Babytron feature
Dude… if the Knicks wasted the 11th overall pick just to dump Kemba’s expiring contract (so they can potentially overpay Jalen Brunson)… that’s an absolute atrocity
We’ll wait for more details b/c this is difficult to believe
https://t.co/DwWNIFPhEjKemba Walker in the past 12 months:
Started on Celtics
Traded to OKC
Bought out by OKC
Signed to Knicks
Traded to Pistons
Bought out by Pistons
Will join new team this summer.
Insane… 🤯 (h/t
@FieldYates)
https://t.co/3TOzV0v4auBy giving DET Jalen Duren, who the organization has fallen in move with in the pre-draft process (and before), the Knicks now have the space to make a run at Jalen Brunson because Detroit took Kemba’s contract. Pistons able to eat bad contracts because of Grant trade.
All win.
So pistons traded
Jerami Grant
Pick 46
For
Jalen Duren
Kemba Walker
Pick 36
2 more seconds
Troy Weaver y'all
Since June of 2021, Kemba Walker has been traded from the Celtics to the Thunder, bought out by the Thunder, signed by the Knicks, traded to the Pistons and now likely bought out by the Pistons in order to join a 5th different team in a little over a year.
https://t.co/vSbFFjH2iAlet me see if I've got this...
Celtics traded Kemba on a max deal with the 16th pick for Al Horford
The Knicks traded Kemba at $8M with the 13th pick for cap space
A big part of trading Kemba Walker: If the Knicks renounce Ryan Arcidiacono’s cap hold and waive Taj Gibson, who’s 2022-23 salary is non-guaranteed, they can open up $20 million of cap room.
The Pistons wouldn’t trade us Jalen Ivey then we HELPED THEM get their guy just to fucking dump Kemba’s expiring salary? Make it make sense
Troy Weaver is a genius (it looks like they’re going to buy out Kemba, but the sentiment remains the same)

🏀 IN SUMMARY
KNICKS TRADED
11th pick
Kemba Walker
4 second round picks
OKC ‘23 first from Denver (top 14)
KNICKS RECEIVED
~$13MM in cap space
Milwaukee ‘25 first (top 4)
Washington ‘23 first (top 14)*
Detroit ‘23 first (top 18)*
*Protections slide to 26/27, might not convey
So the sum of New York's business tonight:
The Knicks dealt No. 11, four future second-rounders and Kemba Walker ...
In exchange for three future first-rounders (protected to various degrees) and a path to $15-18 MIL in cap space.
Likely need one more move for Brunson chase.
https://t.co/RwEnqISChJThat 2025 Milwaukie pick has been on a j o u r n e y. It was in the Jrue Holiday trade, the CJ McCollum trade, the Jerami Grant trade and now it looks like it'll be in the Kemba/Jalen Duren trade.
I think I’m just now wrapping my head around what the Knicks did last night and I am so confused why the price to get off of Kemba Walker’s money was so high when Detroit clearly wanted Jalen Duren as badly as it did.
Shoutout all the Knicks content creators that invested countless hours in doing mock drafts and studying a bunch of players that the Knicks had zero interest in, all to get rid of Kemba and take a huge dump in our faces.
Así que los Knicks han traspasado el pick 11 y cuatro 2º rondas para liberar el salario de Kemba Walker y conseguir otras tres 1º (Pistons y Wizards 2023, Bucks 2025) para tener espacio y sobrepagar a Jalen Brunson.
Un plan sin fisuras.
Yo Leon Rose deadass signed Kemba and Fournier a year ago and is now attaching a lotto pick to get rid of Kemba and offering Fournier into a trade exception…
You can’t make this shit up. Terrible mismanagement of resources. What a fuckin joke.
Performances of the Day 1 #JATrials🇯🇲
1. Yohan Blake 9.93s (SB)
Wind: (+0.7) M/s
2. Conroy Jones 10.00 (PB)
Wind: (+1.2) M/S
3. Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce 10.70
Wind: (+1.1) M/S
4. Kemba Nelson 10.98s
Wind: (+1.5) M/S
In a flurry of moves the Knicks set the stage for a free agent chase and passed on the lottery. Knicks shed Walker, trade No. 11 pick for future first-rounders - and arm themselves for Brunson pursuit.
https://t.co/rW6qt50fkQ