Kemba

Walker

One day after officially retiring from basketball, it has been announced that Walker will be an assistant coach for his former team. He’ll bring plenty of wisdom to a young team that is looking to turn a corner with a first year head coach at the helm.

Walker averaged 19.3 points, 5.3 assists, 3.8 rebounds, 1.2 steals and 2.2 steals across 12 seasons with the Hornets, Knicks, Celtics and Mavericks. Walker was a four-time All-Star who spent the best seasons of his career with Charlotte, and he hangs it up after playing nine games for Dallas in 2022-23 and playing in Monaco last season.

The four-time All-Star, whose NBA career was derailed by chronic knee issues, is headed to France. Walker, who appeared in nine games for the Mavericks last season before being waived in late January, will join the reigning LNB Pro A champions on a one-year deal. Last season, Monaco also finished third in the EuroLeague. If Walker’s knee doesn’t give him any issues and he performs well, this could be the first step toward a return to the NBA.

Walker will be available for the matchup with his previous team Tuesday night. However, he’s unlikely to get the minutes needed to be a factor in fantasy basketball, so leave Kemba on the waiver wire.

Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd said that Walker playing 42 minutes on Dec. 17 caused issues with his knee, and his playing time will have to be carefully managed. For fantasy purposes, Walker is someone managers in daily leagues can monitor, but chances are he’ll be far too inconsistent to feel good about starting in weekly leagues.

This is a “dance” fantasy managers will have to deal with, as Walker has missed Dallas’ last two games. His continued absence won’t impact fantasy basketball, as Luka Doncic and Spencer Dinwiddie are healthy and will take on most ballhandling responsibilities for the Mavericks.

This was the concern when the Mavericks signed Walker, as his knee issues began during his time at UConn. While Frank Ntilikina has picked up a few more minutes recently, there’s nothing to be gained from streaming him. Fantasy managers should expect an even greater effort to ensure that either Luka Doncic or Spencer Dinwiddie is on the court at all times.

Kemba has averaged 14.0 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists across 24.8 minutes over his last four games with Dallas, but he’ll sit out Friday for what’s essentially a rest day. There aren’t any notable fantasy pickups to glean from Walker’s absence.