Charlotte Hornets are facing with a big possibility of losing their franchise star player Kemba Walker this summer. The 28-year-old is set to become an unrestricted free agent in June and he might easily decide to join another team where he would have a bigger chance to win a title or least make the playoffs. Still, Hornets are hoping to keep Walker with the team for years to come and will do “everything they can” to resign the three-time All-Star according to general manager Mitch Kupchak.
“I think this is a place that he wants to be, and we’ll do everything that we can to bring him back here,” – said Kupchak on Friday. “But he is half of the equation.”
While Walker repeatedly stated that he likes playing in Charlotte, he also said that he wants to win, something he was unable to do with the Hornets so far. Although he made the All-Star team in past three seasons, Hornets failed to reach the playoffs in each one of them due to team’s inability to surround their star player with quality pieces.
Since being drafted ninth overall by Charlotte in 2011, Kemba Walker established himself as one of the league’s premier point guards. He is coming off his best career season, having averaged career-high 25.6 points alongside 4.4 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game.
“There has not been a player with this franchise like Kemba Walker,” – Kupchak said of Walker. “He is a once-in-a-generation kind of a player and he is fun to watch. He is competitive, he is a good teammate. Those are all qualities that I like to see and I know that people in the organization and our fans like to see in players.”
