Mike Walkenoff: I don't even want to write an introduction. Let's get started. League sources confirmed that Kemba Walker will join the Knicks, which is a remarkable move in the quiet of the free agent market. Although technically, Walker came to New York from Oklahoma City, that was just a stopover. Truth be told, his last real team was the Celtics.
So I reached out to Athletic's Celtic reporters Jay King and Jared Weiss to help us understand what the Knicks could get out of Walker. Walker spent two years in Boston, and I think he went through a lot of things there. He only played a total of 99 games at the Celtics, which was not a good result, because in the end the Celtics had to pay Sam Presti the first round to send him away. There are a lot of ideas rumbling in my head right now, but my first thought was...
How is his knee doing now?
KING: Walker's left knee has been a problem since his first season with the Celtics. It bothered him when he first made his way into the Celtics' playoffs. It also limited his performance in the team's second season. He missed the start of the season, never played in a back-to-back second game, and still couldn't stay fit in Boston's brief playoffs. Walker said his problems in the first round of the playoffs were not related to his previous injuries, but apparently the knee injury is still an obvious problem.
Even so, Walker was the one on the pitch who could control the offense. In the final six games of the Celtics regular season, he averaged 28.5 points and 4.2 assists per game, shooting 51.3 percent, including 43.9 percent from three-point range. After sticking to rehabilitation throughout the season, he played his best at the end of the season. If it weren't for the playoff injury, he would have performed well in the next game. But the playoff injury adds another touch to his current troublesome health history.
Mike Walkenoff: I think for Walker, output and health are two different issues. He also had a good effect on the pitch last season. He still shoots 36 percent from three-point range, and according to Clean the Glass, he still ranks in the league's top three in terms of point guard usage, shots, and turnovers combined, and the Celtics still score 3.4 points per 100 possessions while he's present.
Health is the most worrying part. Although Walker played well and the team clearly needed his skills, the Celtics added a first round to send him away and reached a generous contract extension with the young people they had trained. Now Thunder — Thunder Again! - Decided to let him go "for free". If even Sam Presti thinks there's no more draft picks for this player — what to say?
Maybe the signing isn't perfect, but it depends on the type and size of contract the Knicks offer him, and that contract is likely to be compressed into their $8 million or so salary space. The cheapness of the contract may be the best part for the Knicks.
What kind of player will the Knicks get? How much of an impact will the possible starting point guard have on them?
KING: Walker wasn't in great shape at the Celtics. And as Tatum and Brown grew, the Celtics realized they didn't need a point guard whose shots were the first choice. Tatum's stats are much better without Walker's presence than when Walker was present.
The Knicks are a completely different situation. They need a player like Walker to create offensive opportunities. They need his excellent three-point shooting percentage and the way he has always played. And, importantly, they can also provide a group of tall and strong defenders around him, so that they should be able to overcome the flaws he brings on the defensive end (mainly due to his stature). With Walker and Derrick Rose, the Knicks should have 48 minutes of quality point guard playing time. After experiencing the "occasional" pain That Elfrid Payton brought to the team, this should have helped them a lot. Especially if Walker can improve his three-point shooting rate to more than 40 percent, when he's on the court, he'll give the Knicks a whole new look to the offense.
Walker's impact will depend in part on whether he's still just a player with low attendance. He only played 43 games last season, but said at the end of the season he felt he could play back-to-back games. I doubt that — because of his recent injury history — but he did become more and more like himself late in the regular season. Perhaps more importantly, with a salary of only $8 million, he is definitely worth the Knicks' bet.
WALKKNOFF: I was looking at Walker's detailed stats for last season, and it's interesting that he barely hits the box. Last season, he shot just 20 percent from the basket — just over 23 percent of players at point guard — but he once shot more from the basket than he did 95 percent. Does this mean that he is starting to feel less graspful under the basket? That looks like a symptom of a bad knee condition.
He shot more long two-pointers (more than 80 percent of players who shot) and shot a lot less (38 percent better than 34 percent of players), which is not a good thing. That worries me about this small 31-year-old point guard in diminishing health.
But these are also long-term concerns. What the Knicks are thinking about right now is next year's game. I agree that Walker should fit in here. He will have a lot of helpers around him. No one else in the Knicks' starting lineup would be shorter than 6 feet 7 inches. The real help he can bring is his autonomous offense. The Knicks need to find help for Randall, and Walker can raise their cap.
Is there anything else Knicks fans need to know?
Weiss: He's a super optimistic guy. For example, even if the team loses, or he loses the winning goal, he will still smile. That's where his teammates love him, he does his job and enjoys himself. Even as he struggles with his performances on the pitch, his happy and relaxed nature has always helped him maintain a good reputation on the team, which will be very conducive to his establishing position in the dressing room and building his fan base in New York.
Now that he has no top salary, this should relieve him a lot of pressure and make him play more freely. Last season, he spent a lot of energy trying to shoot those long-range three-pointers, and unfortunately most of them turned into various iron nights. Luckily, Walker has done a great job of controlling turnovers, and while he can't organize the team's tactical system like some of the top-paid point guards in the league, he can do all the tasks that the Knicks need their starting point guard to do at the moment: read the situation on the court and pass the ball to the real core of their team when appropriate.
But there's a problem with that much of his offensive influence comes from tearing up defenses and all sorts of amazing aerial passes when he hits the basket, which seem less common after he's injured. A big part of that is because he couldn't disrupt his opponent's defense as much as he used to, especially since his precise mid-range projection — a hallmark of his game — disappeared last season. He couldn't hit his opponent's seven inches now, and he didn't find the kind of game feeling that made him an All-Star.
Some of his offensive abilities can never be recovered after a knee injury, and he ranked 39th in scoring per round of 64 of the league's 400 blocking attempts last season. By contrast, Emanuel Quakeley is in 31st and LeBron James is in 30th — names that appear next to each other on the leaderboards is clearly something Knicks fans love.
Hopefully, Walker will become a more reliable block scorer next year and regain his feel on long-range shots. He should be able to work well with Julius Randall in high positions. He can't take possession of the ball and won't be the centerpiece of the tactics, but he can relieve RJ Barrett of the pressure to be that kind of guy in a short period of time. Don't ask me questions about his defense, though.
All right. But what about his defense?
KING: Not so good! But he will take responsibility and compete. He's not going to completely screw up the overall great defense of the team. The Celtics are fourth-best defensively efficient in the league in 2019-20, and that's what Walker did with a lot of playing time. But last season when Walker was on the bench, their defense was noticeably better. But that Celtic can still show that it's possible to overcome his weaknesses on the defensive end with the right players around Walker. The Knicks have a lot of these resources, as well as defensive guru Tom Thibodeau.
Weiss: Basically, the reason for the team's defensive success that year and Walker was that there was a good group of defenders who were able to assist Walker in time to defend when he was single-handedly opposed to the strong point, and they were able to protect Walker in the bottom corner of the defensive vantage point in a large number of rotations.
Walker was actually a good block defender before he was injured, as he could squeeze through all kinds of cover well and had enough energy and bounce to put a lot of pressure on the ball carrier. He worked hard and consistently to make up for the mismatch in his figure. But last year he didn't move as well as he should, and made a lot of defensive mistakes on the no-ball end, which made Stevens very unhappy. I think Thibodeau will get him to focus on that.
What can the Knicks do on the defensive end to cover up some of Walker's defensive shortcomings, as the Celtics did a few years ago?
Vocknov: The Knicks can "hide" him appropriately, even if he's not as good as he used to be. They succeeded with Payton last year, and he and Walker are not much different.
For me, it's about making trade-offs between risk and reward. His contract with the Celtics is obviously not worth it for the Celtics, but his contract in New York should be fine. If he's too badly injured to play regularly, the Knicks should be able to easily find an opportunity to trade him.
Since these factors are all interrelated, how are the Knicks and Celtics in the East now ranked? Who is more qualified to be a playoff seed, or even a top six seed?
King: The Knicks had a better record last season, and then they signed two talented players (from the Celtics) in the offseason. The Celtics, meanwhile, haven't built up enough support around Tatum and Brown. The Celtics will be coached by rookie head coach Uduka. Anything can happen.
With that in mind, I'm leaning on the Knicks to be able to get better spots, but Tatum and Brown's strength has the potential to change everything.
Wes: I'm willing to bet on the Knicks. Last season, the Knicks far exceeded the level of talent on paper, and the Celtics did the opposite, and the contrast can be a bit hesitant. But this variable can be canceled out immediately. Barrett should be able to go further in the new season, Mitchell Robinson will return, and they have also "stolen" the Celtics' backcourt. New York's current roster is so balanced, and the Celtics are a few steps away from becoming a full team, just like they did last season.
The Celtics haven't finished their operations in the market yet, but it's unlikely that there will be a deal this week that will completely change the situation.
WALKKNOFF: Wow, I picked the Knicks and then kicked the ball to the Celtics fans. That's why you guys are the best, not just a bunch of hit workers.
I tend to agree with you. Getting Fournier and Walker will help delay some predictable setbacks for next year's Knicks in some respects. Not to mention the expected progress in Quickley and Barrett (although I'll remind you that the players' careers are not linear).
But I really think the Celtics will be better next season. They were a little weird last season, now they've replaced the manager, traded Walker, brought in Horford, and I think that's going to change at least.
But is that enough to get them into the top six in the East? I wouldn't go that far. Walkers may also walk ahead of them. Bulls behave in the free market as if they were buying wildly in a bear market. It's all exciting, look at what the league looks like right now, to be honest, I think everything is possible in a 5-12 ranking.