What About Kemba Walker and Nicolas Batum?
Kemba Walker
Kemba Walker is coming off his best season as an NBA point guard, scoring a career-high 23.2 points per game while shooting 44% from the field, 40% from deep and 85% from the free-throw line. All of these stats sound good and Isaiah Thomas is also coming off a career-high season, the difference between these two point guard specifically is that Walker is currently averaging 22.6 points per game this year. While Walker has been healthy and able to play all year, his near 23 points per game is a stark contrast to Thomas’ 15 points per game.
Also, if you excluded Thomas’ breakout 2016-17 season in which he scored 28.9 PPG, his career average dips from 19.1 PPG to 16.9. In comparison, Walker’s career average sits at 18.8. Even though the offense is not the Cavs’ issue at the moment, it is clear the team needs more offensive production from its starting point guard and Walker could be the answer in that department.
Reports of Thomas being a “cancer” in the locker room may or may not hold much weight, but his presence has provided negative returns on the floor. Walker, a younger player that can still improve, does not seem to have a big ego that could potentially clash with the team’s leader in LeBron James and ultimately, that could be the biggest draw to a Thomas-Walker swap.
Defensively, Walker will be the better player, but not by much. Thomas’ 5-foot 9-inch frame does him no favors on the defensive side of the ball, something he obviously cannot help no matter how much effort he exudes. By default, Walker becomes the better defender, but not as good as our next player…
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