Kemba Walker has been removed from the Knicks’ rotation and Alec Burks has been placed in their starting lineup, Adrian Wojnarowski reports.
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It has truly been a bad year of 2021 for the former UConn superstar. Kardiac Kemba was one of the league’s most exciting players not so long ago.
Walker negotiated a max contract with the Boston Celtics as a free agent in the summer of 2019. At the time of signing, the deal seemed eminently worth it. This was a guy who’d come off 3 straight All-NBA caliber seasons and was scoring in bunches in the 4th quarter.
Walker had a great start to his Boston career, which made people question Michael Jordan and the Hornets FO’s wisdom. However, the injury bug him hit during January 2020, and he truly hasn’t been the same ever since.
Walker made a brief comeback for the Cs before the Covid shutdown in March 2020. He was barely a replacement-level player at some points during the NBA bubble, though he also shone in a few games.
The 2020-21 season was even more injury-plagued as his declining lateral quickness exposed the Celtics defense whenever he took the floor. Ultimately, Brad Stevens made the decision to trade him to the OKC Thunder for Al Horford.
Why is Kemba Walker no longer starting for the New York Knicks?
The 31-year-old cleared waivers with Sam Presti’s joint to sign with the Knicks as a free agent. But what seemed to be a match made in heaven at the time for the Harlem-born former All-Star was soon soured as their starting lineups bled points defensively and Kemba was unable to produce enough offensively to merit his inclusion in the rotation.
It had become clear right from the first day of the season. But coach Tom Thibodeau has persevered with Walker as a starter for a quarter of a season. The hope, obviously, was that Kemba would get into an offensive rhythm at some point.
Kemba Walker is out of the Knicks rotation “as of right now,” Tom Thibodeau says. He says he will tighten the rotation moving forward. “It would be tough to play three small guards together,” Thibodeau says. Says he has great respect for Walker and all he’s accomplished.
— Fred Katz (@FredKatz) November 29, 2021
But instead of getting a rhythm going for his teammates Julius Randle and RJ Barrett, who both seem to have stagnated at the same level as last year, Kemba’s presence has forced both of them to play even more iso ball.
Something truly had to give given the vast disparity in net ratings between the starting and their bench lineups. It must’ve been hard for Thibs to pull the trigger on a move many had a lot of hopes from. But it was clearly a while in the making.
