Do Hornets fans even feel sad about the Kemba Walker situation anymore? Sure, it was unfortunate that the franchise centerpiece who never led them anywhere meaningful had to walk for nothing, and it was unfortunate that his nominal replacement was deputy tank commander Terry Rozier, but something way more fortunate emerged from those unfortunate things.
I’m talking, of course, about the arrival of one Devonte’ Graham. There’s no way he plays this well if Kemba is still on the team because Kemba and Graham are very similar players. They both take a lot of threes and have the ball in their hands a lot. Graham could be the primary backup to Kemba, sure, but that would cap him at, like, fifteen minutes per game unless you wanted to play them together (something that wouldn’t work due to their combined smallness). Graham would look good in that role but he wouldn’t break out in that role. The current scenario was and is the perfect one for him to start SHOWING OUT.
Besides, Kemba seems beloved in Boston and is playing well there. If Hornets fans really love Kemba (I get the sense that they do), they’ll be happy for him metaphorically spreading his wings and metaphorically flying. Not just because it allowed for Graham’s emergence, but because Kemba’s no longer trapped on a losing franchise for his whole career with nothing to show for it except a huge stack of cash.