Mavericks Waive Kemba Walker After Nine Games

The point guard played nine games for Dallas this year.

The Mavericks announced on Friday they are waiving guard Kemba Walker after just nine games with the team. The Mavericks’ decision comes a day before Walker’s salary was set to become guaranteed for the rest of the season, according to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon.

Dallas signed the veteran point guard in November, but Walker didn’t make his first appearance with the team until December 10. In nine games with the Mavericks, Walker totaled 8.0 points, 2.1 assists and 1.8 rebounds per game.

Walker’s best performance with Dallas came on December 17, when he scored 32 points with seven assists and five rebounds in a game vs. Cleveland. However, Walker only surpassed 10 points in one other game, and he scored just eight points combined in his last four games, playing under five minutes in three of them.

Instead of Walker, Dallas plans on giving more minutes to Jaden Hardy and McKinley Wright IV, per MacMahon. Those two have played a combined 17 games this year and are each averaging under 11 minutes per game so far.