Why Kemba Walker is a good fit with the Chicago Bulls: His contract isn’t as bad as many think it is
The big hold-up for most teams that would consider a trade with the Celtics for Kemba is the current contract that he’s on. The Celtics signed Kemba to a big contract back during the 2019 offseason. It was originally worth $140.79 million over the course of four years, in what was a sign-and-trade deal with the Charlotte Hornets nearly two years ago.
Kemba just got done with the second year of that four-year max contract. And while the annual salary that will pay him around an average of $37 million over the course of the next two years is a lot to weigh down the Bulls cap sheet, it’s not an insurmountable figure. It also helps that Kemba has a player option ahead of the final year of his current contract.
The contracts of both Kemba and Vooch would be running up within two years of each other. It could give these two potentially a final true window to legitimately contend in the Eastern Conference and make a deep postseason run. That is something that has not only eluded Kemba and Vooch but LaVine too, in their careers thus far.
Landing Kemba would both give LaVine a reason to want to get a contract extension (maybe at a good price too) in the next calendar year and give Vooch a better chance to contend before it’s too late. The Bulls invested a lot in Vooch at the trade deadline this year, and don’t want to miss out on contending before he’s out of his prime years.