Kemba Walker

Jayson Tatum appeared to signal that he wants former Celtics teammate Kemba Walker to come back to Boston. See Boston.com.

Walker scored 32 points and dished out seven assists in a one-point loss for the Mavericks against the Cavaliers on Dec. Jayson and Jaylen, you two guys have to come together as much as you can and lead this team to the promised land. Walker’s play has also taken a step back in recent seasons as he’s dealt with a knee injury that’s caused him to miss time since his first season with the Celtics in 2019-20. Walker had a couple solid offensive outings in his first two games in Dallas, averaging seven points and 3.5 assists in roughly 16 minutes per game. After being a free agent to open the season, Walker signed a one-year, non-guaranteed deal with the Mavericks on Nov. Marcus Smart, Malcolm Brogdon, and Derrick White all handle the position for the Celtics on a nightly basis. As indicated by Tatum’s tweet, he certainly has fans in Boston still, potentially making him a good locker room presence. When the news was shared on Twitter, Tatum responded to it in an interesting way. “Somebody I talk to on the regular. He played 37 games for the Knicks last season, scoring 11.6 points and dishing out 3.5 assists per game. The Celtics actually faced Walker’s now-old team on Thursday, beating them 124-95. Boston could add Walker without having to make room.

He appeared in only nine games as a Maverick and struggled for the most part. The lone exception came in a Dec. 17 game against the Cleveland Cavaliers in which ...

Otherwise, his time in the Two-way player [McKinley Wright IV](/nba/players/2892178/mckinley-wright-iv/) has played well in limited minutes, and the team wants to find playing time for rookie guard [Jaden Hardy](/nba/players/26819214/jaden-hardy/), who has only appeared in 12 games but has scored in double figures in three of them. He appeared in only nine games as a Maverick and struggled for the most part. His small stature and defensive limitations have made him a difficult fit in the past, and as age and injuries become a more pressing concern, it just isn't clear how much basketball Walker has left in him. [Dallas Mavericks](https://www.cbssports.com/nba/teams/DAL/dallas-mavericks/) are waiving point guard [Kemba Walker](/nba/players/1646202/kemba-walker/) after only nine games, the team [announced](https://twitter.com/MavsPR/status/1611399985043542017) Friday. According to [ESPN's Tim MacMahon](https://twitter.com/espn_macmahon/status/1611394806961393665), the move was motivated by a desire to find minutes for some of the team's younger guards.

The Dallas Mavericks waived guard Kemba Walker, the team announced Friday morning. Dallas now has one open roster spot and a path for its younger guards to ...

While signing and waiving a well-liked player like Walker in such a short time period isn’t ideal, especially when his injury concerns were so obvious, at least the Mavericks are leaning toward their youth, something the fan base has wanted for quite a long time. Hardy scored 15 points in 15 minutes against the Boston Celtics on Thursday, although all of his minutes came when the game was already decided. Walker played the next two games, but only went 5-of-15 from the field, scoring a combined 18 points in 44 minutes. 16 and 17, with 13 minutes against Portland and then a massive 42 minutes on the next night against Cleveland. After that, he sat out almost a week and has played sparingly since. Dallas now has one open roster spot and a path for its younger guards to get more playing time.