On the morning of August 14th, 2021 with his picture and moniker plastered on the LED signs circling the World’s Most Famous Arena, accompanied by his former teammate in Boston and fellow acquisition Evan Fournier, Kemba Walker beamed a smile brighter than the lights that shine down on the building’s historic court every game.
It felt like nothing could take away from the glimmer of his expression as he sat on the stage inside Madison Square Garden in front of a pool of local beat writers to be fully introduced as one of two new members of the New York Knicks. The excitement in his voice from recognizing the potential that lay in the partnership with head coach Tom Thibodeau and a revived Knicks team seemed like it wasn’t going away anytime soon.
“I can’t really put into words how amazing this feeling is, being at home,” Walker said in front of family, friends, and the organization he grew up watching and idolizing at his introductory press conference. “Everything is perfect, perfect timing. I’m super excited that these guys have belief in me.”
When the Knicks signed Kemba Walker to a 2-year, $20 million deal over the summer following two seasons with the Celtics and a trade and buyout from the Oklahoma City Thunder, it truly felt like the perfect union for a city that loves its basketball roots.
A native New Yorker hailing from the Bronx, the 31-year-old had some of his greatest moments under the Garden’s iconic roof going back to his days at Rice High School and as an AAU baller. Of course, nobody could forget “Cardiac Kemba” that took over the Big East Tournament in 2011 for UConn with one shot. Even numerous trips back home as an NBA visitor resulted in memorable performances, including his 32-point game as a member of the Celtics in October 2019.
Walker’s homecoming was the most anticipated moment in New York basketball since Brooklyn product Carmelo Anthony was traded to the Knicks in February 2011, where the 6-foot-1 point guard had to navigate a storm of endless ticket requests from those around him.
“I planned on telling everyone that I only get four tickets,” Walker joked at the presser.
The Knicks and their fans knew about Walker’s extensive injury record coming in, notably his arthritic knee that prevented him from playing in stretches of games throughout his NBA career. However, the feel good signing was an acquisition they thought could help the organization improve its scoring woes that reared in the playoffs and quell its unceasing point guard problem.
And for the first six games of the 2021 season, there was reason to believe it did.
Behind Walker and the revitalized offense, with Thibodeau in his second season as head coach, the Knicks started off as one of the hottest teams in the NBA, going 5-1 in that stint. After struggling from the three-point line last season, the Knicks were suddenly one of the best shooting teams in several three-point categories, including attempts, shots made, and three-point shooting percentage. Part of that came from Walker’s prowess at knocking down the deep ball which he has done at 41.3% rate this season, a career-best.
Throughout the month of October, Walker averaged 15 points on 50% shooting from the field and 57.9% from the arc to go along with 3 rebounds and assists a piece. That efficiency inspired the rest of the Knicks point guard base-RJ Barrett, Derrick Rose, Alec Burks and Immanuel Quickley—to up their scoring production as well, accounting for an average of 60 points of offensive production per game.
Living out his childhood dream, Walker and the Knicks looked poised for another run at a top-four seed in the Eastern Conference. That was until recently, when inconsistency and a major weakness of Walker’s—defense—struck down on both parties’ plans, ultimately spoiling the point guard’s homecoming, leading to his benching, and creating concerns over his future in orange and blue.
Since their surprising start in late October—featuring a thrilling double overtime 138-134 win over the Boston Celtics at Madison Square Garden on opening night—the Knicks have gone 11-10, holding the 7th best record in the Eastern Conference and standing 1.5 games ahead of 11th, and are battling to remain relevant in the top half of tightly contested standings.
The original starting five chosen by Thibodeau—Walker, Evan Fournier, RJ Barrett, Julius Randle, and Mitchell Robinson—have struggled on both ends on the court, especially in the opening minutes of play. At one point in November, the unit was holding a total plus-minus ratio of -266 on offense while being one of the most used five-man lineups in the league.They also have been outscored by 15.6 points per 100 possessions over the course of the past month.
Defensively they’ve also been responsible for the team allowing an average of 118.9 points per game (last in the league). Last season, the Knicks based their whole persona on the defense, which finished with the fourth best defensive rating and spent time as high as first.
On multiple occasions with the starting group faltering, Thibodeau has had to remove those players early and insert his bench rotation, consisting of younger players ranging from rookies to second or third year players.
Led by co-second year-stars Obi Toppin and Immanuel Quickley, the reserves have had to carry increased roles and perform in come-from behind-fashion against some of the most talented opponents in the league. Some games, they’ve succeeded, but others the talent was too overwhelming, and the Knicks have yet to see a two game win streak since they won three straight at the end of October.
All things put together, the Knicks have been that strange team that’s beaten the Sixers, Bucks, and Celtics, and competed with the Nets, of the world yet lost to the lowly Magic, Raptors, and Cavaliers.
In Walker’s case, over 18 games he’s started thus far, his season averages have dropped to career-lows of 11.7 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 3.1 assists while playing an average of 24.5 minutes per game. During 12 games in November, his average scoring has gone as low as 10 points and his shooting down to 39% overall and 29% from the three-point arc. After averaging close to or over 20 points in his last six seasons, Walker has just two games with 20 or more points since joining New York.
Yet, while his offense has been overtly problematic, what has stood out more in the statistics as a major factor, among many, in his poor play and been made the scapegoat for the Knicks’ latest in-season struggles is his defense.
Throughout eleven years as a professional, it’s been long documented that Kemba Walker’s greatest weakness is his defensive deficiency, stemming partly from his short stature among the average point guards of today’s NBA. Still, nobody on the Knicks envisioned his kryptonite growing stronger and his defensive acumen taking a deeper nosedive than it ever had before.
Walker has struggled greatly to fit into the hardnose defensive system run by Tom Thibodeau, one which has grown to value the importance of getting over the screen and making quick changes in one-on-one matchups. With such smaller physical attributes, it has been a challenge having to defend and put pressure on taller, highly talented shooters in his position and keep extra rebounders out of the paint.
Entering Monday’s slate of action, Walker held a career worst defensive rating of 116.3, a -89 plus-minus ratio (11th worst in NBA) and a -13.3 net rating, meaning the Knicks have been outscored by over 13 points per 100 possessions with the point guard on the court. Conversely, with Walker on the bench, the Knicks hold the league’s best 99.0 defensive rating and the rotation is outscoring opponents by 11.2 points per 100 possessions.
In addition, focusing on the individual level, opposing players have shot 50.8% when going up against Walker’s defense. Giving sway 6.5 more percentage points to opponents than their combined shooting average against any other player, it marks the second consecutive year in which Walker has allowed opponents to shoot an average of at least 50% or more against him.
With Walker’s defensive woes hanging around, the Knicks have tried to implement a few solutions to help reverse the bad numbers. One consideration had been benching Kemba and bringing him in with the second unit and letting Alec Burks get the starting spot, since Walker’s plus-minus ratio came with the starters and he held a -13.5 net rating playing simultaneously with forward Julius Randle alone. Thibodeau even elected to have Walker sit-out on back-to-back affairs to provide the veteran with some extra rest to see if the knee ailment was having an impact.
After 20 games, the results have stood firm, the data still overwhelmingly contradicting Walker, and it has now led to a situation nobody imagined the New York basketball legend to be in at this stage of his homecoming.
On Monday afternoon, Tom Thibodeau told reporters that he had made the decision to remove Kemba Walker from the Knicks’ rotation entirely, a change which took effect with the Knicks 112-100 loss Tuesday at the Brooklyn Nets. Citing height issues and the data in his explanation of the decision, the Knicks head coach made sure he clarified it wasn’t an easy change decided upon in the course of a day.
“It’s a tough decision to make, but you always have to do what you think is best for the team,” he said at the microphone Monday.
“I view Kemba as a starter, and so it’d be tough to play three small guards together. I gave it consideration, and I’ve got great respect for who Kemba is as a person and all he’s accomplished in this league.”
On the reverse end of the equation enters shooting guard Alec Burks who will take Walker’s place in the starting five. Earning more minutes in the overall rotation recently due to injuries and Walker’s nights off, Burks has become of the Knicks most aggressive scoring threats and impressed his coach with an astounding 23 point performance in 39 minutes in the Knicks’ win last Saturday against Atlanta. In 21 games played, the 6-foot-6 guard has averaged 11.1 points, four rebounds, and two assists, partly from the reduced role he had at the start of the season.
Through a career that’s been riddled with relentless injuries and other obstacles standing in the way of stability, Walker has rode every wave and taken every measure necessary to get back healthy and remain in the conversation as an elite point guard in the NBA. It hasn’t been perfect, but never has he failed to remind everyone of the talent that lies beneath the bruises. The talent that gave him the infamous nickname “Cardiac Kemba”.
However, it’s hard to imagine anything preparing him for a moment like the one before him now. The moment where 20 games into arguably the best stint of his professional career, playing in front of the family and city that raised him and playing for the team he grew up dreaming about, he has gone from the beloved, hometown kid basking in the bright lights of the Garden to the disgraced, forgotten individual sitting on the end of the Knicks’ bench.
Two months after he stood on that stage, holding up his new Knicks jersey with his last name stitched cleanly to the back with bold white lettering, and giving a broad smile that could outshine the city skyline, Kemba Walker now sits idle and hidden from plain sight of the Knicks faithful who were eager to see one of their own thrive for a franchise fraught of talent for so long.
Now, all that’s left to wonder is whether they’ll ever see the native Bronxite touch the Garden court in orange and blue again?
Regardless of what happens with Kemba Walker’s membership with the New York Knicks moving forward, one thing is certain. They have yet to fix their perpetual point guard problem.
Over the past decade or so, for fear of looking back even further, the point guard position has been a gaping black hole in the Knicks roster. Since the days of Walt Clyde Frazier or even Mark Jackson (over 30 years ago), the Knicks have failed to trout out any true All-Star caliber point guards capable of matching up with the best of the league and leading the team to long-term success.
Sure, there were players at the point like Mike Bibby, Jeremy Lin, Iman Shumpert or Pablo Prigioni who became fan favorites during their New York tenures, captivating the Garden with their individual abilities or contributions towards rare winning seasons resulting in a playoff appearance. Most Knicks fans still talk about Linsanity or the team’s run to the Eastern Conference Semifinals in 2013 like it was yesterday, but the reality remains the same.
The Knicks–circulating through close to 20 different point guards dating back to the 2009-10 season–have yet to find their diamond in the rough, their franchise ball handler who can be the catalyst towards contending for an NBA championship.
With the latest removal of Kemba Walker from the rotation, the local prodigy becomes the latest victim to be exiled to the island of former Knicks’ point guards rejects.
Although his time in New York can’t be ended until December 15th, when offseason acquisitions become eligible for the trade market, many are wondering if the Knicks will pursue their next candidate through an exchange for Walker prior to the league’s February 10th trade deadline.
Despite his market value, akin to his production, being very low, multiple league sources told Bleacher Report that they believe the Knicks will attempt to shop Walker in the coming months. League sources are unsure whether the Knicks have Walker on the trading block after his disappointing start to the season, but there is optimism his value could go up if the Knicks became more interested, in part because of some teams growing desperate for veteran shooters closer to the deadline.
The Pull Up Podcasts’s Jordan Schultz recently reported via sources close to the team that since removing Walker from the rotation, the Knicks have received inquiries on his status from three different organizations. No specific teams have been named, but another source with ties to the team said that there is a potential trade partner in the Houston Rockets who could look to deal their own long-disgraced and inactive point guard John Wall in the near future.
While it’s all rumors and talk right now, doing such a deal makes little sense for the Knicks given Wall’s own track record injuries that have disintegrated his playmaking abilities from back in 2018 and the compensation that would need to be involved. Wall, who signed a four year, $171 million max deal back when he was with the Wizards in 2017, still has two years and $91 million left on the deal, and hasn’t played in a game since April 23, 2021.
If the Knicks decide to stay in-house and develop their long-term answer with the assets they currently have, there’s a solid group of names to choose from and even rotate through as well. Rookie guard Immanuel Quickley has been acknowledged and supported as a candidate for being named a starter amid his recent performances coming off the bench, averaging 9.4 points while shooting 40.3% from the field and 36% from downtown. However, Tom Thibodeau has been unrelenting in his willingness to let Quickley dip in feet in starting five minutes despite beckons from the media and fan base.
Perhaps things will work out for Walker and he’ll be reinserted into the rotation in a different role later on in the season, especially if the response desired from his removal doesn’t pan out from the rest of the guards on the team. No matter what direction is taken by Thibodeau and the front office, they have to figure out how to uncover and recruit the lost ark that is a consistent, efficient point guard worthy of commanding the Knicks to the next level.
The level of competing for a title and giving New Yorkers more of a reason to celebrate than just an offseason acquisition.
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