‘BEST FOR THE TEAM’
Thibs makes tough call to sit Kemba in favor of Burks
Kemba Walker went from Homecoming King to the DNP line.
The four-time All-Star has been removed from the Knicks rotation amid his defensive struggles and the consistent failures of the Knicks’ starting unit, with coach Tom Thibodeau dropping the big news ahead of tonight’s game in Brooklyn.
Thibodeau is moving Alec Burks to starting point guard and said Walker didn’t fit with the second unit. It’s a logical maneuver since the reserves are already formidable with Derrick Rose and Immanuel Quickley in the backcourt, but still surprising and controversial because of Walker’s stature.
“It’s a tough decision to make, but you always have to do what’s best for the team,” Thibodeau said. “I view Kemba as a starter and so it would be tough to play three small guards together. I gave it consideration. And I’ve got great respect for who Kemba is for as a person No.1 and all that he’s accomplished in this league. But I have to do what’s best for the team.”
Walker, who played high school ball in Harlem, signed a two-year, $18 million guaranteed deal in the offseason with the Knicks and was touted as a gamechanger who could rediscover his stardom by returning home. But Walker clearly lost his explosiveness, and the arthritic knee remains an issue. He became a defensive liability and the Knicks were outscored by 122 points this season with him on the floor.
Then with Walker resting his knee Saturday, the Knicks picked up arguably their best victory of the season, 99-90 over the Hawks. Burks was the catalyst with 23 points while stifling Trae Young in the fourth quarter.
“I just don’t like the way we’ve been trending, the inconsistency of our team. I want to get bigger,” Thibodeau said. “I want our defense to get bigger at the point of the attack. So basically that’s it. You got to do something different.”
The Knicks’ front office was strapped with copious cap space in the last two offseasons but hasn’t solved the franchise’s decades-long point guard problem, with free agents Fred VanVleet, Kyle Lowry, Lonzo Ball and Dennis Schroder all signing elsewhere.
Walker hit free agency after he was bought out by the Thunder and represented a low-risk signing with a potentially high upside. His shooting remains fairly efficient (42.9% overall and 41.3% from beyond the arc), but he no longer explodes to the rim and he carries the team’s worst defensive rating.
Defense is non-negotiable with Thibodeau and the struggling starting lineup has required a nightly boost from the bench for the Knicks (11-9) to be competitive.
“We’re 20 games into it. And one of the things that stood out to me was the inconsistency of the team,” Thibodeau said. “Those are tough decisions. You think it through. You look at the film. You look at the numbers. And then you also have to think about how can we help the starters more get into rhythm. And it doesn’t fall on one guy. It’s a team sport. As I said, I liked the way we played in Atlanta. I want to take a look at that. I think it’s our best chance. I think getting back to size.”
Burks, 30, is traditionally a twoguard at 6-foot-6 but can handle the ball and serves as an adept playmaker. Walker is six inches shorter.
“When you have that type of size, it allows you to do more switching (on defense),”
Thibodeau said. “And I think it does help, it helps with the rebounding, it helps with control of the ball, it’s harder to make passes to the opposite corner and that sort’ve thing. How we finish our defense is important, the rebounding piece of it, the closing out piece of it. I did like the size.”
Perhaps the lineup change will unlock Julius Randle, who has regressed from last season’s All-Star campaign. Randle and said Monday he “trusts” the coach’s decision regarding the rotation shift.
“He’s gonna do what he feels is best for the team. It’s our job to go out there and play,” Randle said. “And he felt like it just gave us more size and hopefully just more consistency to the starting unit. So, Kemba’s been great, great in the locker room, great teammate, all that. So, he’ll still do the same. But coach just felt like 20 games in, he didn’t wanna wait and switch things up.”