New York Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau told reporters Monday afternoon that he is removing guard Kemba Walker not only from the team’s starting lineup, but the entire rotation, starting Tuesday with the crosstown-rival Nets in Brooklyn. Hui.
“It’s a tough decision but you always have to do what you think is best for the team,” Thibodeau explained his decision after practice on Monday. “I look at Kemba as a beginner, & so it would be hard to play three little guards together. I considered it, and I have a lot of respect for who Kemba is as a person and Everything he has achieved in this league.
“But I've to do what I think is best for the team.”
In this case, Thibodeau has decided that it means selling Walker in favor of Alec Burks. Walker, a four-time All-Star & New York City basketball legend, returned home last summer on a two-year, $20 million deal after being bought by the Oklahoma City Thunder following a trade to the Boston Celtics.
After going for 23 points in 39 minutes to Burke in Saturday’s win over the Hawks in Atlanta – a game Walker didn’t play after scoring 17 points in their loss to the Phoenix Suns of New York at Madison Square Garden the night before – Thibodeau There is an option to put him in the starting five going forward.
“I want to tighten the rotation. I like the way the team works, so it will be similar to what we did in the Atlanta game.”
Walker, 31, has career average deficits across the board, including points (11.1), rebounds (2.6), assists (3.1), field goal attempts per game (9.8) or minutes (24.5). After a warm start to the season, his numbers are down dramatically, as he scored 10 points on 39% shooting overall – & 29% from 3-point range – through 12 games in November.
Meanwhile, New York’s starting lineup didn’t work out. Entering Monday night’s action, the team’s distinctive starting lineup – Walker, Evan Fournier, RJ Barrett, Julius Randall and Mitchell Robinson – is the NBA’s most used five-man lineup, logging 287 minutes. . It also outscored 15.6 points per 100 assets in those minutes, and would have the NBA’s worst defensive rating (118.9) ever. Individually, the Knicks are being outscored when Walker is on the court by 13 points per 100 possessions, and teams are outscoring by 11 points per 100 possessions when he is not.
“The Knicks are currently 11-9, which places them in the middle of the tightly tied Eastern Conference standings. New York are three games behind the pre-leading Nets & a game ahead of 76 games in 11th.”
Walker spent the last two seasons at Boston after the Celtics signed him to a four-year Max contract in 2019, leaving Kyrie Irving to replace Kyrie Irving once he later signed his own Max deal with the Nets . After making the All-Star team his 1st season & helping Boston reach the Eastern Conference Finals with strong games in series victories over the Philadelphia 76ers and Toronto Raptors, Walker struggled with knee issues last season, the regular season. I am missing 29 games. And the final 2 games of Boston’s five-game loss to Brooklyn in the 1st round.
In his 1st significant move as franchise president, former coach Brad Stevens picked Walker to the Thunder, along with the No. 16 pick in July’s NBA draft, to bring center Al Horford back to Boston. Horford has fit seamlessly into Boston’s lineup, especially with starting center Robert Williams missing several games with various injuries at the start of this season.
On the other hand, Walker eventually agreed to a buyout with the Thunder, allowing him to return home to New York to play a small role with his hometown team. But after being repeatedly fractured over the past several weeks, along with other members of the starting lineup, as the New York bench steadily outperformed, Thibodeau decided on Monday to take things a step further.