Walker Belives He Still Can Play
The Story: Kemba Walker was not on an NBA team to start the season for the first time since 2010 as the Pistons waived him when rosters needed to be finalized earlier this week.
WHAT’S HAPPENING? Walker was acquired by the Pistons in a draft-day deal in July after one really tough, disappointing season with his hometown Knicks.
• Walker had apparently agreed to a buyout with the Pistons over the summer, but when he didn’t receive any interest from other teams, he chose to not finalize the buyout and was instead waived. His gamesmanship means the Pistons must pay him all of the $9.2 million remaining on his salary.
• A four-time All-Star, Walker is still just 32 but has been bothered by a knee injury for the past two seasons. It’s a legitimate question as to whether he’ll be able to play again, but he thinks he can.
WHAT DID WALKER SAY? “I’ve got something in the tank, for sure. I feel great. I’m going to be honest, I’m going to have my opportunity. I’m not in any rush right now. I’m just grinding and trying to feel as good as I can. And right now, I feel great. I feel as good as I’ve felt in a long time. I’m just waiting for the opportunity.”
AROUND THE NBA: Several other former UConn players are charging forward with their NBA careers.
• Rudy Gay, in his 17th season, is back for another go-around with the rebuilding Jazz. He had 16 points — and two assists and no rebounds — in 26 minutes of the surprising season-opening victory over the Nuggets on Wednesday. If he continues to play well, he seems likely to be traded at the deadline later this season so the Jazz can keep taking on assets.
• Andre Drummond joined the Bulls in July and had nine points and five rebounds off the bench in a season-opening win against the Heat on Wednesday. He’s on pace to be among the top 50 rebounders all time this season.
• Tyrese Martin was the only player drafted from a Big East team in July. He’s with the Hawks and averaged 4.3 points, 2.3 rebounds and 17.7 minutes across three preseason games but did not play in the opener against the Rockets on Wednesday.
• James Bouknight, ugh. We detailed his recent off-the-court troubles this week and it’s not great, so we’re hoping he can put it together in his second season with the Hornets. He played 14 minutes, had two rebounds and missed all five shots — four 3-pointers — to finish without a point in the season-opening win over the Spurs on Wednesday.
• Jeremy Lamb finished last season, his 10th, with the Kings, though he remains a free agent as the season has gotten underway.
• Shabazz Napier spent last season, his first away from the NBA, with Zenit St. Petersburg, but he left Russia following the invasion of Ukraine and has not apparently continued playing elsewhere thus far.
• Amida Brimah finally realized his dream by playing in five games with the Pacers in 2020-21 but was out of the league and won a Belgian league championship with Oostende last season. He, too, does not seem to be under contract at the moment.
AND ELSEWHERE: If former UConn players don’t make it in the NBA, they have a heck of an opportunity playing overseas. Here’s an update on several who are playing in Europe:
• RJ Cole played for the Lakers in the NBA Summer League and then latched on with Lavrio B.C. of the Greek Basket League. His team has played two games and he scored 16 points with eight assists in the opener and then had 17 points in the second game.
• Isaiah Whaley was cut by the Hornets, his hometown team, on Oct. 6 after just one preseason game in which he played four minutes and grabbed one rebound. There’s no update yet on his professional future.
• Ryan Boatright has made the, uh, curious decision to join Avtodor Saratov, a team in the top Russian league, for this season. He’s the starting point guard, and through four games is averaging 13 points, 5.8 assists and 2.5 rebounds in 25.8 minutes.
• Jalen Adams joined Maccabi Tel Aviv of the Israeli league this season and made his debut for the team on Tuesday, seven games into the season. He scored two points in eight minutes in his first game and three points in 13 minutes into his second game.
• Christian Vital, who played for the Raptors in the NBA Summer League, recently finished his season with the Hamilton Honey Badgers of the Canadian Elite Basketball League. He did pretty good for himself as the Honey Badgers won the league title and he was named the Finals MVP.
• Josh Carlton joined Le Mans of the French league after his season at Houston and through five games has 7.6 points, 6.8 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game.
• Niels Giffey spent seven seasons playing for German power Alba Berlin before moving to Lithuania’s Zalgiris last season and Spain’s Murcia this season. After averaging 9.2 points per game for Germany in its bronze-medal EuroBasket finish, he started and played 22 minutes Saturday in the opener, a 75-74 win at Valencia in which he had four points, three rebounds and three assists in 22 minutes.
• Daniel Hamilton signed with VEF Riga of the Latvian-Estonian Basketball League in August and had 15 points and 13 rebounds in his first game on Sept. 30. He’s averaging 10 points and 5.3 rebounds in 21.5 minutes per game.
• Alterique Gilbert will be playing games this season against Hamilton as he joined BC Kalev in July. Gilbert has emerged as a reliable scorer as he is averaging 13.7 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.2 assists through nine games.
• Rodney Purvis joined KB Peja of the Kosovo Superliga before the season. He’s dominating it by averaging 20.8 points — which ranks fourth in the league — and 5.3 rebounds through six games. He has scored more than 30 points twice for the undefeated first-place team.
• Shonn Miller is in his first season with Chemnitz 99 of Germany’s Basketball Bundesliga. Through six games, he’s averaging 9.5 points and 5.2 rebounds in 22.7 minutes per game.
• Terry Larrier played in 34 games with the Wisconsin Herd of the G League last season and has since joined Voluntari of the Romanian league. He has played in five games and is averaging six points in 18.6 minutes per game.
• DeAndre Daniels wrapped up his season with the Townsville Heat, a team in New Zealand’s second division, in June. He played in only five games but averaged nine points in 24.8 minutes.
• Sterling Gibbs joined Nymburk of the Czech league this season and has played in four games. He’s averaging 7.5 points per game in 18.5 minutes per game.
• Enosch Wolf is playing his seventh consecutive season in his native Germany and has joined second-tier team Rasta Vechta. Through three games, he is averaging six points and 4.7 rebounds in 11.7 minutes.
Morning Reads
• The men’s hockey team will try to improve upon its best start in program history with a two-game set at Boston University tonight and tomorrow. It will serve as a homecoming for transfer Ty Amonte, who spent the last five seasons playing for the Terriers. (The UConn Blog)
• Kaitlyn Mahoney kept a clean sheet with three saves as the women’s soccer team (7-6-2, 3-4-1 Big East) played Villanova to a goalless road draw yesterday afternoon. It will host Providence on Sunday afternoon. (UConnHuskies.com)
Top photo: Kemba Walker drives the baseline while playing for the Hornets in 2014. (Keith Allison via Wikimedia Creative Commons)
