Should Pistons have held onto Kemba Walker?

Kemba Walker has signed with the Dallas Mavericks, which desperately needs his scoring and playmaking abilities, after being released by the Detroit Pistons. In retrospect, would they have been better off keeping him on their roster?

It was a pure salary dump, but Kemba Walker was sent to the Pistons on June 30, as part of a trade with the Knicks to help them clear cap space to sign Jalen Brunson.

You know the story: Walker was going to bought out by the Pistons and go on his merry way. But he had no team interested in him, so he ended up staying on Detroit’s roster. Finally, with training camp (which he did not participate in) over and the regular season about to start, the Pistons finally released him on October 17.

Detroit had to eat Walker’s entire $9 million salary for this season.

Walker finally found a home on November 28 when he signed with the Dallas Mavericks, who are off to a slow start.

Walker continually said he was ready to play while waiting to find a home. However, his balky left knee is still an issue (via CBS Sports):

"“It’s not good,” Mavericks GM Nico Harrison said of Walker’s knee during a recent radio appearance. “It’s not good at all. But he’s rehabbed it and it’s the best he’s felt in the last two years so, we’ll see how long that lasts.”"

It looks like Walker, a four-time All-Star, might be no more than a short-term solution. There is another team that might have used a scorer/playmaker in the short-term: the Detroit Pistons.

What if the Detroit Pistons just kept Kemba Walker?

Pistons general manager Troy Weaver has always been known as a player-friendly executive. Walker had no desire to play for Detroit, and with a bunch of young guards needing playing time, the Pistons really did not want him either.

But, when it became obvious Walker was going to remain on the official roster for a while, what if Weaver decided to have Walker play with the team?

He always says he likes veterans on the squad. Walker, 32, could certainly mentor the young players and provides some pop off the bench.

What if Weaver had played hard ball, and told Walker and his representatives ‘show up at training camp ready to play, if some other team gets interested, I am happy to talk to them.” Walker would have to come, or risk being fined and, if he missed any regular season games, get money taken out of the $9 million (see Simmons, Ben for how that works).

So Walker would have shown up. If he had played well in the preseason, Weaver might have found a trading partner for him, but we will never know.

If there was still no market, Walker puts on the teal uniform and plays.

How does Kemba Walker fit in as player with Detroit Pistons?

The Pistons bench was awful to start the season, particularly on the offensive end. Walker, even as bad as he was reported to be playing with New York last season, still averaged 10.6 points and shot 40-percent on three-pointers. He certainly could have been useful.

With the injury to Cade Cunningham, possibly for the season, and Jaden Ivey, Saddiq Bey having extended absences due to injury, playing time certainly would not have been a problem for Walker.

The Pistons are not looking to tank, but make the play-in tournament. As of December 5, they have a record of 6-19. Detroit is sitting next to last in the Eastern Conference standings and are 5.5 games behind the Knicks for the last spot in the play-in.

Would Walker, assuming he is anything close to the player he was, have helped the Pistons win a few more games? Maybe, we will never know. But when you are sitting at 6-19, he certainly could not have made their record worse.

What about Walker as trade bait

With a full training camp and preseason instead of sitting at home waiting for another team to want him, Walker might have stirred interest from other teams. With the desire to find a spot for veteran backup guard Rodney McGruder, Weaver probably would not have asked for much, and anything is better than nothing, which is what Detroit ended up getting by releasing Walker..

Of course, this is all predicated on Walker being physically able to to play. If he was not, the Pistons could have applied for salary cap relief. Since they didn’t, one has to assume Walker is was least healthy enough to step on the court.

But it will not be for Detroit.

Weaver is a very sharp guy, but he miscalculated when he promised Walker when the trade was consummated he could have a buyout, signalling he was not going to be part of the Pistons plans for the season. Pistons fans should watch closely how Walker does with Dallas and see whether he might have helped or not.