Does Kemba’s All-NBA status and supermax eligibility hurt or help Utah Jazz’s chances?

What impact does Kemba Walker’s new supermax eligibility have on the Utah Jazz’s purported free agent pursuit this summer?

If you’ve been paying any attention at all to Utah Jazz fans lately, you’ll know that they’re chomping at the bit to land a significant free agent this summer. In several ways, Jazz brass has been building up to this offseason with the financial planning and flexibility needed to finally land a big fish. As such, the most highly desired outcome is to come away with a free agent that takes the team to the next level.

Unfortunately, the high-impact free agents at which the Jazz have even a slight shot at obtaining are few and far between. But one whose name has surfaced frequently as a potential dream fit at point guard in Utah is Charlotte Hornets superstar Kemba Walker. Walker had an impeccable 2018-19 season, earning an All-Star starting nod and shouldering a massive load for his under-manned team, putting up a career-high 25.6 points per game.

His impressive scoring ability and knack for thriving in the big moment have earned him the nickname Cardiac Kemba, and his unreal offensive prowess and unrelenting effort could work wonders for this Jazz team. As such, especially considering that point guard has been a weak spot for the Jazz essentially since the Deron Williams days, several of the Utah faithful have been pining after Kemba significantly.

However, he’s certain to have several suitors come free agency time, meaning the Jazz will have their work cut out for them. Not only will other teams be looking to pry Kemba away from Charlotte and into their mix, but the Hornets themselves will likely aim to keep him on board as well.

And due to recent events, it’s plausible that the Hornets could have far and above the greatest offer and a huge leg-up on their opponents. Since it was announced earlier this week that Walker has been selected to the All-NBA third team, he now qualifies for a supermax contract with the Hornets. Just how super are we talking? Well, Charlotte can offer him a five-year, $221.3 million contract. The rest of the league can only get up to four years, $140.6 million.

For those of you keeping track at home, that’s an $80.7 million difference in terms of guaranteed money. Wowza yowza.

When looking at it strictly from a financial standpoint, one might gawk and say that this drastically hurts Utah’s chances (or any other team for that matter) as no one can compete with the massive chunk of change that the Hornets can throw at Kemba. However, Walker has made it clear that money is far from his only consideration. He wants to be in a winning situation. And unfortunately for Charlotte, their current cap situation is in no shape to improve the roster and put Kemba in a good spot in that regard.

So with that being the case, some may caution to wonder, does Kemba qualifying for the supermax actually help the Jazz as perhaps the Hornets, who are already knee-deep in bad contracts, may not want to fork out such a massive load of cash for Walker?

Perhaps to a degree that line of thinking could be prevalent, but honestly I don’t think it will have much of an impact either way. Kemba has proven himself worthy of a max contract, so whether he hadn’t made All-NBA and was going to be worth a $190 million max contract or can command a $221.3 million supermax contract, the Hornets were still going to be throwing a lot of moolah his way to keep him.

Considering that they own his Bird rights meaning they can go over the cap to keep him, the supermax isn’t going to be much more of a hindrance than a regular max contract would have otherwise been anyway. In other words, while you could argue that this alters things ever so slightly for the Hornets in terms of deciding how to spend their money, they essentially are still facing the same crucial dilemma that they were before the All-NBA announcement.

That dilemma is – do they break the bank on Kemba, handcuffing themselves with no additional cap space to make further upgrades and essentially dooming themselves to mediocrity? Or do they pass on Kemba and let one of the greatest players to ever don the purple and teal simply walk? It’s practically never a good idea to let go of a superstar-caliber player who is nothing but a positive to the team, but trudging onward as a subpar squad doesn’t feel profitable for either Kemba or the Hornets.

Of course, this dilemma is based solely on if Walker actually wants to return. If he decides he’s through with missing out on the playoffs in Charlotte and doesn’t believe the team can improve, as an unrestricted free agent he has complete freedom to go elsewhere, which is something he may very well do when push comes to shove.

Obviously, Kemba and the Hornets have some tough decisions to make this pivotal summer, and the added intrigue of a potential supermax contract certainly could affect decisions one way or another.

But in terms of how this hurts or helps the Jazz (assuming they’ll even be in the Kemba sweepstakes at all), I’d say fans of the Salt Lake City squad shouldn’t panic because it likely doesn’t change much. If anything, the extra money the Hornets are able to offer Kemba could serve as an advantage that tips the scale in their favor and lures him to make a return. However, if money were the principal concern for Kemba, I believe the $190 million without an All-NBA appearance would have still done the job.

But if Walker is looking for a better winning situation, the supermax offer likely won’t sway him from making a change. Meanwhile, if the Hornets were already willing to throw a max offer his way, the supermax likely won’t be much tougher of a pill to swallow, especially with NBA measures in place to allow teams to exceed the cap if it means keeping their own players.

So, rest assured, despite a potentially slight variance in the decision-making process, Kemba’s arrival to the All-NBA Team doesn’t affect Utah’s hopes in the running. Their odds are essentially just as good (or maybe just as bleak) as they ever were, depending on what both Kemba and the Hornets are already leaning towards.

It deserves mention that Kawhi Leonard wasn’t interested in the supermax and instead requested a trade out of San Antonio, just as Anthony Davis has done in New Orleans. Meanwhile, though Gordon Hayward and Paul George fell short of being supermax eligible with both the Utah Jazz and Indiana Pacers, respectively, they both turned down bigger money with a different destination in mind by all means, and I don’t think the supermax would have kept either in place anyway.

If Walker is truly focused on winning, as he says he is, he could very well do the same, despite the potential $221.3 million offer before him. I just don’t see any feasible way that the Hornets retain him and find a way to finagle their way out of bad contracts to create a competitive squad. Not only that, but the supermax contracts have been far from an end-all determining factor in a player’s decision to stay, and if I could see anyone opting to pass it up for a better basketball situation, it would be Kemba.

So don’t lose hope, Jazz fans. If Kemba to Utah was ever a possibility before, it still very much remains alive. Free agency officially opens on June 30th and, my oh my, what an exciting time it’s bound to be.