Walker trying to regain elite status

By Terry Brown
NBA Insider
Tuesday, May 11
Updated: May 11
1:56 PM ET

While Shaquille O'Neal was diving after that loose ball in the most important game of the year for his team, Antoine Walker was watching on TV.

When Ben Wallace grabbed 24 playoff rebounds for the Pistons, Walker must have shook his head in disbelief.

The former all-star, former all-rookie selection and national champion at Kentucky is sitting on the couch these days, watching the NBA playoffs and wondering if there is still a place in this league for a long-range shooting point-forward.

"Somebody had to take the blame in Dallas," said an Eastern Conference scout who happens to be in the same room. "So they pointed to the new guy with the biggest contract and blamed Antoine."

There are more than 350 players in the NBA, and more than 250 of them are spectators right now. Walker is one of them.

He began the 2004 regular season 20 pounds lighter than the previous year, because the Celtics wanted him thinner. They wanted him quicker. They wanted the old Antoine Walker.

Then, all of a sudden, they wanted him gone, and he was traded to the Dallas Mavericks.

The Mavericks finished the 2002-03 regular season with three all-star-caliber players in Dirk Nowitzki, Michael Finley and Steve Nash. On Aug. 18, 2003, they added another in Antawn Jamison. On Oct. 20, they added another in Walker.

On April 29, 2004, after being eliminated from the playoffs in the first round, the Mavericks wondered if they had added too much.


Antoine Walker
Forward
Dallas Mavericks
Profile


2003-2004 SEASON STATISTICS
GM PPG RPG APG FG% FT%
82 14.0 8.3 4.5 .428 .554

"It was not the year he thought it was going to be," said the scout, one of Walker's close friends. "He came into the year in the best shape of his life, and everything just fell apart. It was nothing Antoine did wrong. It was just that the rookies played well, they already had a lot of players and the chemistry never developed.

"They were never going to win 60 games again like the year before. Not in this Western Conference. Not with any team."

That's the price for being a professional in the NBA. Owners lose lots of money. Coaches get fired. And Walker, a player who once averaged 20 points and 10 rebounds a game and made $12.5 million this season, has no idea where he's going to be living next year.

"He loves Dallas," says the scout. "He loves the organization. He loves his teammates."

But most of all, he loves the game. Not only does he play basketball, he coaches an AAU team, he goes three or four hours in a row with his video game (starring himself). He is, like the rest of us, watching these games with intent.

"I can remember taking him to Bulls' games when he was just a kid," said the scout. "He'd be calling for double teams at certain times. He knew when to go 2 for 1 in the closing seconds. He is a fan of the game."

Right now, that is all he can be.

In his last nine playoff games, four last season with Boston and five last month with Dallas, Walker has averaged a meager 11.6 points and 10.1 rebounds on 35 percent shooting. He has 28 assists and 25 turnovers.

He shoots too many 3s. He doesn't play enough defense. He doesn't score enough points. He gets paid too much money. He is a trading card in our fantasy leagues, a combination of statistics and standings, a toy for grown men behind on their mortgages with no one else to blame.

"He started shooting a lot of 3s because coach [Rick] Pitino told him to shoot lots of 3s," says the scout. "Coach [Jim] O'Brien used the same philosophy. And now everybody's mad at him because he grew to like shooting 3s."

Then he was traded to Dallas, where everybody likes shooting 3s. So he started rebounding, too, and passing like the old days. Two years ago, he played 41.5 minutes per game and averaged 7.4 3-point attempts, 7.2 rebounds and 4.8 assists. Last season -- yes, it's already last season for him -- he played fewer minutes (34.6 per game) and took half as many 3-point attempts (3.7 per game) while increasing his rebounds (8.3) and maintaining his assists (4.5 ).

“ He started shooting a lot of 3s because coach [Rick] Pitino told him to shoot lots of 3s," says the scout. "Coach [Jim] O'Brien used the same philosophy. And now everybody's mad at him because he grew to like shooting 3s. ”
— NBA scout on Antoine Walker
In the playoffs, he averaged 10 rebounds per game in only 28 minutes, but all we remember is the 1-for-10 shooting from 3-point range.

"He wants to play like he used to," says the scout. "Look at him. We're eating fried chicken and yams, and he's over there eating peanuts and popcorn."

He has gone from being one of the best players in the game to being a salary-cap figure. His value is determined by the length of his contract. He is a commodity now, not because of his points or rebounds or assists, but because he has one year left on his contract.

The most recent rumor has the Orlando Magic trading their lottery pick and a grounded Grant Hill to Dallas for Walker.

As a free agent in about 12 months, he could end up playing for four teams in a little more than two years after having played his first seven seasons in one place.

He actually called an old friend to see what it was like to play in Orlando.

And it seems like an eternity ago that he was wrapped up in the playoffs himself, hoping to repeat the 3-point magic of 2001-02, when the Celtics made it to the Eastern Conference Finals.

He pops another peanut in his mouth and waits for the next game to start, unsure of who his future teammates will be.

nice read. i would love to have toine on our team, feel kinda bad for him and his situation in dallas

Walker is a very good player but he's more suited for the same role that Lamar Odom is playing in Miami. You must guard him but he can't be the single focal point of an offense.

Adding Walker to the Knicks could work. The Knicks have Timmy, Steph, and possibly a healthy Houston. Walker could really help out especially with the thing people crack on him the most and that is his 3pt shot. Tim and Toine(which sounds cool) could be a good one two punch at the forward spots. Toine could take alot of pressure off of Marbury at times and with Tim, Toine, and Nazr running the break with Houston trailing. It sounds like it could work. Toine is a vocal player too so that's always a plus.

I would be fine with Walker.

Posted by EnySpree:

Walker is a very good player but he's more suited for the same role that Lamar Odom is playing in Miami. You must guard him but he can't be the single focal point of an offense.

that's what he was in dallas and the failed miserably. i only would get walker to move him at the deadline b/c some team would love renting him for 1/2 a season AND the expiring deal. with that said, cuban will get much better offers than us.

his game is ok, and he sometimes puts up numbers, but we have enough players jacking it up from outside and if houston is healthy, then walker has no place in the offense outside of possibly playing the point from time to time.