The New York Knicks are 11-11 on the year and while they were one of the best defensive teams in the NBA last season, they rank just 19th in the league in defensive rating this year.
It is very weird to see this Tom Thibodeau coached team look puzzled on the defensive-end of the floor, but some of their problems run a lot deeper than on defense.
They have looked better offensively this year, but the Knicks have had a lot of games this season in which their offense just stalls. At times, they cannot buy a basket and as a result, their defense tends to suffer on the other end of the floor.
Adding both Kemba Walker and Evan Fournier was supposed to fix this team’s offense struggles with just Julius Randle and RJ Barrett being their only contributors, but Walker has really struggled to get anything going this season.
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Kemba Walker Looks Finished After Poor Start With New York Knicks
In 18 games, Kemba Walker is only averaging 11.7 points, 2.6 rebounds, 3.1 assists and is shooting 42.9% from the floor, which is why Thibodeau has made the decision to take him out of the team’s starting lineup and out of the rotation entirely.
Alec Burks has been inserted in the Knicks’ starting rotation and with Derrick Rose and Immanuel Quickley now seeing more playing time, it seems like Kemba Walker’s days as a Knick could be numbered, which would be the end of a very quick story.
The Knicks and Walker agreed to terms on a two-year, $17.9M contract in the offseason, so it would be shocking to see them trade him after not even one season with the team, but now out of the rotation, the Knicks should expect their phone to be ringing constantly once Kemba Walker is eligible to be traded after December 15.
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Kemba Walker Looks Finished After Poor Start With New York Knicks
Only owed $8.7M this season, there are plenty of teams that could target Walker in a trade ahead of the trade deadline this year and quite a few playoff teams could be looking for another backcourt piece.
Who knows what the Knicks will decide to do with the former All-Star point guard, but one of these three teams could look to pursue him in the coming weeks.
