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Kemba Walker to New York Knicks After OKC Buyout

Kemba Walker is coming home

Just under two months ago, the Boston Celtics traded star point guard Kemba Walker to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Boston received Al Horford and Moses Brown in return. Draft picks were also swapped. Clearly, with OKC being a rebuilding team, 31-year-old Walker was not part of their long-term plans.

This morning, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski broke the news that Walker agreed to a contract buyout with the Thunder. Once he clears the waivers, he will sign with the New York Knicks.

Walker is a native of the Bronx and attended Rice High School in Manhattan. He also hit the most famous shot of his college career at Madison Square Garden, the home arena of the Knicks, back in 2010.

New York got a great piece

Walker, who spent the first 8 seasons of his career with the Charlotte Hornets/Bobcats, is a 4-time All-Star and 1-time member of the All-NBA Third Team. Additionally an NCAA Champion in 2011, Walker gained the title of Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four.

Walker is coming off a couple of injury-plagued seasons in Boston but will look to pick things back up in his home city. He’ll likely be the starting point guard of the Knicks and act as a star alongside Julius Randle.

Written by Andrew “Jetlag” Preisig | IG @ThankYouJetlag | Twitter @ThankYouJetlag

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LaMelo Ball Named the ’20-’21 NBA Rookie of the Year

Ball

LaMelo Ball was the season’s top newcomer.

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the NBA has finally revealed its Rookie of the Year winner. LaMelo Ball, point guard for the Charlotte Hornets, will take home the award. He was the third overall pick in the 2020 draft. The now-19-year-old skipped college and played professionally in Australia before joining the league.

Ball played a total of 51 games in the regular season, starting 31. He averaged 15.7 points, 6.1 assists, and 5.9 rebounds.

He traveled an interesting path towards the award.

It was a tight race between Ball and Minnesota Timberwolves rookie Anthony Edwards. The latter was the first overall pick in the draft. Sacramento Kings Tyrese Haliburton was also a runner-up for the award.

Ball had plenty of ups and downs in his first NBA season. He became the youngest player in league history to drop a triple-double when he had 22 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists against the Atlanta Hawks.

He missed 21 games during the regular season. Still, his stellar play contributed to winning. Voters decided he was deserving to be named the NBA’s best rookie.

Plenty of NBA awards have been revealed over the past few days, including the All-NBA teams.

Check out Ball’s rookie season highlights below.

Andrew “Jetlag” Preisig | IG @ThankYouJetlag | Twitter @ThankYouJetlag