Kemba Walker Out Of Knicks Rotation

[Ballerhogger]

Wow I thought he was still good ! That injury screwed him and his defense isn’t good enough on thibs team

[R-DAWG]

Damn, it’s that bad?

It's more about the mix of players then Kemba himself. First off, the backcourt of Kemba-Fournier just wasn't working. Both guys are one dimensional offensive players best suited to be your 4th offensive option, and one of the problems watching the Knicks on offense was no one knew who was supposed to be running the offense. On top of that, neither guy could defend. Unfortunately for Kemba, being that the Knicks made such a large investment in Fournier, he became the odd man out of the starting rotation. The bigger problem for Kemba, which is why he is out of the rotation, is that Rose-Quickely have both been playing very well in their role off the bench, and both guys are combo guards in point guard bodies. As a result, Kemba doesn't really fit in with them. Additionally, the Knicks really need a guy with Grimes skill set - defense and not needing the ball on offense - in the rotation and getting one of the scorers out of the rotation should be addition by subtraction.

It's unfortunate, especially for Kemba who gave up $2.1MM to come home. But the Knicks really couldn't bench Fournier at this point and Kemba is just wrong place, wrong time.

Appreciate the detailed response. You think they’ll move him now?

I think the Knicks will try to work with Kemba to send him to a place where he can either get minutes on a playoff team or get bought out as long as the Knicks don't take on additional salary. It's hard to justify committing to $10MM of dead money on next years books when the organization was touting how the different contracts they have are easy to cobble together for a trade.

Call me crazy, but I would offer Kemba, Fournier and Kevin Knox to Houston for John Wall. Roll the dice that Wall is a better fit than Kemba with the worst case being you get off the last year of Fournier's deal.

[KembaWalker]

feels bad man

[JujitsuFlip]

The guy has arthritis of the knees, what did we expect?

[Statlanta]

Bigger fall than Deron Williams.

[Maxthirty]

feels bad man

At least you’ll have more time to post now.

[Scalabrine]

Kemba should have stayed in Charlotte.

In hindsight Jordan did great work to not pay him the max.

Ya I still think if they had no intent on resigning him, they should've traded him at the deadline. But with that said and looking back at it with hindsight, getting Rozier back for Kemba wasn't all that bad of a deal for Charlotte.

Kemba himself mentioned on the Lowe Post that this is a huge reason he didn't return to Charlotte. They didn't offer him a contract anywhere close to what Boston offered. He loves Charlotte, still lives in Charlotte, they just didn't make a competitive offer.

[FNQ]

Funny how a week ago he was held up as one of the largest tank moves of the offseason (by OKC)

But wow the (team) numbers sure back it up.

[Scalabrine]

It's more about the mix of players then Kemba himself. First off, the backcourt of Kemba-Fournier just wasn't working. Both guys are one dimensional offensive players best suited to be your 4th offensive option, and one of the problems watching the Knicks on offense was no one knew who was supposed to be running the offense. On top of that, neither guy could defend. Unfortunately for Kemba, being that the Knicks made such a large investment in Fournier, he became the odd man out of the starting rotation. The bigger problem for Kemba, which is why he is out of the rotation, is that Rose-Quickely have both been playing very well in their role off the bench, and both guys are combo guards in point guard bodies. As a result, Kemba doesn't really fit in with them. Additionally, the Knicks really need a guy with Grimes skill set - defense and not needing the ball on offense - in the rotation and getting one of the scorers out of the rotation should be addition by subtraction.

It's unfortunate, especially for Kemba who gave up $2.1MM to come home. But the Knicks really couldn't bench Fournier at this point and Kemba is just wrong place, wrong time.

Appreciate the detailed response. You think they’ll move him now?

I think the Knicks will try to work with Kemba to send him to a place where he can either get minutes on a playoff team or get bought out as long as the Knicks don't take on additional salary. It's hard to justify committing to $10MM of dead money on next years books when the organization was touting how the different contracts they have are easy to cobble together for a trade.

Call me crazy, but I would offer Kemba, Fournier and Kevin Knox to Houston for John Wall. Roll the dice that Wall is a better fit than Kemba with the worst case being you get off the last year of Fournier's deal.

Doesn't work under the cap rules. Knicks would need to add 5 million more to get to the threshold... thats how much money Wall makes! It's completely unmovable. Unlike Walker and Fournier and Knox who are much easier to swallow.

R-Dawg nailed it pretty much to a T.

Kemba can still be a functional player on a good team, but the way our roster is built, he's just the odd man out, especially with the emergence of Grimes as a bigger, faster, and more active defensive player that can't really get picked on as easily. I still think Kemba has a place in the league, I could see him working great for a team like Dallas or the Clippers, but our roster is crowded at his role. I'd be totally fine keeping him if he's willing to stay, he's a great mentor, and we're not gonna stay healthy all season, so there is a path to game time eventually even though he's not in our full rotation.

[R-DAWG]

Appreciate the detailed response. You think they’ll move him now?

I think the Knicks will try to work with Kemba to send him to a place where he can either get minutes on a playoff team or get bought out as long as the Knicks don't take on additional salary. It's hard to justify committing to $10MM of dead money on next years books when the organization was touting how the different contracts they have are easy to cobble together for a trade.

Call me crazy, but I would offer Kemba, Fournier and Kevin Knox to Houston for John Wall. Roll the dice that Wall is a better fit than Kemba with the worst case being you get off the last year of Fournier's deal.

Doesn't work under the cap rules. Knicks would need to add 5 million more to get to the threshold... thats how much money Wall makes! It's completely unmovable. Unlike Walker and Fournier and Knox who are much easier to swallow.

R-Dawg nailed it pretty much to a T.

Kemba can still be a functional player on a good team, but the way our roster is built, he's just the odd man out, especially with the emergence of Grimes as a bigger, faster, and more active defensive player that can't really get picked on as easily. I still think Kemba has a place in the league, I could see him working great for a team like Dallas or the Clippers, but our roster is crowded at his role. I'd be totally fine keeping him if he's willing to stay, he's a great mentor, and we're not gonna stay healthy all season, so there is a path to game time eventually even though he's not in our full rotation.

Personally, I would prefer to dump Fournier, start Kemba/Grimes and keep the bench unit of Rose/IQ/Burks together (I don't think IQ is ready to start at the point and I think what makes the bench so effective is that while there is no true point guard, all 3 perimeter guys have PG skills). However, I know it's unreasonable to expect a franchise to bench an in their prime player with close to $60MM in guaranteed money over the next 3 years that was just signed.

Maye the Knicks are trying to play up Fourniers value so they can dump him for an expiring or TPE and a few 2nds at the deadline.

[celticfan42487]

So sad, BOS is where player go to get the max and get their career effectively ended by injuries. IT, Kemba, Hayward

[KembaWalker]

So sad, BOS is where player go to get the max and get their career effectively ended by injuries. IT, Kemba, Hayward

Hayward is putting up 17/5/4 58% TS on a team with a better record than Boston.

[matt6715]

Still trying to wrap my mind around the Knicks offseason... Was it still decent? A failure? Should they have targeted different guys? Whole thing is very confusing to me.

[Goomba3666]

Seems like it was just yesterday where Kyrie haters where SWEARING that this guy had "more impact".

Lol. GG

[KembaWalker]

Seems like it was just yesterday where Kyrie haters where SWEARING that this guy had "more impact".

Lol. GG

yeah, now they have equal impact

[Goomba3666]

Seems like it was just yesterday where Kyrie haters where SWEARING that this guy had "more impact".

Lol. GG

yeah, now they have equal impact

Agreed. Just sucks that haters had to learn the hard way as opposed to listening to people that understand basketball

[HMFFL]

He should have chilled for a year in OKC to recover his body a la Al Horford

2 year / $17,894,49 will be his final big paydays. I doubt he can be productive enough to receive more per season so he did the smart thing and took the money.


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[HMFFL]

Kemba should have stayed in Charlotte.

Charlotte didn't pay him what he received at the time. MJ knew his knees where shot, maybe not to the extent they're, but he knew not to supermax him.

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[bwgood77]

Seems kind of strange considering he was shooting a career best from 3 on over 5 attempts per game and right about on line with his career 2pt %. His assists are down a lot from career average but Randle is the primary playmaker. Does he just not play defense? Seems weird to sit a 41% 3 pt shooter completely.

[bwgood77]

Read on Twitter

I guess that explains away my last post comment, but strange that given his offensive #s they are THAT worse offensively. He must be REALLY bad defensively.