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NBA free agency 2022: Kemba Walker negotiating buyout with Detroit Pistons

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH - FEBRUARY 07: Kemba Walker #8 of the New York Knicks warms up before a game against the Utah Jazz at Vivint Smart Home Arena on February 07, 2022 in Salt Lake City, Utah. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)
Four-time NBA All-Star Kemba Walker is expected to become a free agent upon negotiating a buyout and clearing waivers. (Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)

The Detroit Pistons and point guard Kemba Walker are finalizing a buyout of his contract that will make the four-time NBA All-Star a free agent once he clears waivers, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

Walker averaged 11.6 points (on 40/37/85 shooting splits), 3.5 assists and three rebounds in 25.6 minutes over 37 games as a starter for the New York Knicks last season. The 32-year-old did not play in the final 22 games of last season, opting to rest a sore left knee that has derailed a great career since January 2020.

Walker left the Charlotte Hornets in 2019 to join the Boston Celtics on a four-year, $140.8 million contract in free agency. He made his fourth All-Star team three months into his Celtics tenure, before re-aggravating the knee that thrice previously required surgery. He has not been the same player for more than two years.

Following his 2019-20 campaign, Walker received a stem cell injection into the knee, which cost him the first month of the following season. He frequently rested throughout the 2020-21 season and sat Boston's final two games of a first-round playoff loss. The Celtics unloaded the two years remaining on Walker's deal, plus a first-round pick, in exchange for Al Horford from the Oklahoma City Thunder in June 2021.

The Thunder bought out $54 million of the $74 million Walker was still owed on his contract, and the veteran recouped $18 million of that salary in a two-year contract with his hometown Knicks. New York shed more draft capital in a three-team, draft-day trade last week to unload that deal on the Detroit Pistons.

Wherever he lands in free agency now, Walker will be paid $27.4 million from the Thunder, whatever portion of the $9.2 million he negotiates from the Pistons and his next contract from a new team, all for this season.

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Ben Rohrbach is a staff writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at rohrbach_ben@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach