Sources told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski that Kemba Walker, the Oklahoma City Thunder guard, and the Oklahoma City Thunder reached an agreement to buy out Wednesday morning. This will allow the New York City icon to sign for his hometown Knicks.Sam Presti, Thunder's general manager, and Walker's agents at Excel Sports Management, Jeff Schwartz, and Javon Phillips, worked together to reach an agreement for a buyout. The deal included Walker's remaining $74 million and two years of Walker's contract. According to ESPN's Bobby Marks, he can now move into New York's $10 million remaining salary cap space.In June, the Thunder purchased Walker from the Boston Celtics. This was Brad Stevens' first major move after he moved upstairs to coach the team and replaced Danny Ainge as president of basketball operations. He also took the 16th pick in the NBA draft last week, while moving on from Al Horford.Kemba Walker: Kemba Walker just finished his worst season as a professional. He had the lowest assist percentage in his career and played in 43 games, a record low for a professional. Worst Since Games played 43 Ever PPG 19.3 2014-15 FG pct. 42% 2014-15 Assist 24% Ever -- ESPN Stats & InformationOklahoma City has been building up a collection of first-round picks over several years. The 16th pick, one of three in this draft, was then transformed by the Houston Rockets into two future picks when they acquired the selection to take Alperen Sengun, a Turkish center.The Thunder will now be able to use Walker's roster spot to allow their young guards to play, while they rebuild. Sources tell Wojnarowski that Shai Gilgeous Alexander, the budding star, agreed to a five year max extension this week. The Thunder have also developed Lu Dort into one of the best defensive guards in league. They drafted Tre Mann and Josh Giddey in the first round last week's draft and have Theo Maledon in the second round.Walker will now be able to return to New York. He played his first game at Rice High School. There he also faced Derrick Rose, who was playing at Madison Square Garden for Chicago's Simeon High School. Walker then became a legend at the University of Connecticut, becoming one of the most important players in the program's history. He won five games in five days in order to win the BIg East tournament championship at MSG 2011 and was later able to lead Connecticut to its third NCAA championship.Now, he will be able to continue that history at MSG with his Knicks teammates, the Knicks. He should slot in the starting lineup next to Evan Fournier, a fellow Knicks player and former Celtics teammate, as an upgrade to Elfrid Payton. Walker and Fournier will both be crucial to boosting an offensive that suffered in New York's five-game loss against the Atlanta Hawks in round one of the Eastern Conference playoffs.Walker was traded to the Thunder by the Celtics as part of a pivot in order to increase salary cap flexibility in 2022 and to better balance out a roster which had heavily swung towards perimeter players. This happened just two years after Walker signed a four-year, $141million max contract.Walker, who was named to the All-Star team his first season in Boston. He spent last season working on a plan for managing his left knee. This will help him through most of 2020. After helping Boston reach the Eastern Conference finals, Walker began a 12-week strengthening plan for his knee. This program was extended into last season's start when the NBA suddenly started earlier than he and the Celtics expected.Walker was still a good player when he returned to the court. He averaged 19.3 points per game and 4.9 assists in 43 games. The bone bruise in his left knee caused by the same injury that had previously affected him, forced Walker to miss the Boston series' first round loss to Brooklyn Nets.Walker admitted that it was difficult to watch playoff games after Boston's 123-109 defeat in Brooklyn in Game 5. "It's been really difficult, especially since I've played so many of them when I was healthy over the course my career."I came to Boston to participate in those special runs, to see the fans go wild and to witness high-intensity games. Unfortunately, I was not able to. Try to do it right. I gotta get right."He'll now have the opportunity to do it in his hometown.
