New York Knicks: Kemba Walker’s fit with Julius Randle and NYK

As we speak, countless New York Knicks fans are using Google, trying to find Leon Rose’s home address, so they can send a few fruit baskets his way, to say the least.

After what seemed like an eternity of disappointing managerial decisions, the Knicks are finally back to where they belong. At last, the front office is doing a great job at providing coach Tom Thibodeau with the perfect pieces to build a contending team.

To take things into perspective, the 2020-21 season saw the Knicks experience playoff basketball with home-court advantage. Despite the unfortunate first-round exit, fans of the New York Knicks were ecstatic with their team’s performance throughout the season.

Following this triumph of a season, per New York’s standards, the guys up at the headquarters managed to retain every single key member of the squad that led the team to the playoffs for the first time in 8 years, apart from Reggie Bullock.

In addition to that, they penned deals to Evan Fournier on the first day of free agency and apparently, per the latest report from Shams Charania of The Athletic, Kemba Walker.

Kemba Walker has just reached an agreement for a buy-out and plans to sign with the New York Knicks once he is cleared of waivers.

One could say that not having a few guys that can create their own shot is what ultimately cost New York a deeper run in the 2020 NBA Playoffs. Well, consider this problem a part of history, as scoring options are now plenty.

The exact details of the deal are yet to be announced, though Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer reported an estimate of $8 million annually. That deal is equivalent to Elfrid Payton’s earnings during the season of 2019-20.

Given Walker’s extensive list of accomplishments in his CV, a contract as such has to be considered a steal by all means. Yes, his health has been a minor issue during these past two seasons on the Boston Celtics, but let’s be realistic, there are bench players getting paid much more than that.

Kemba Walker has been both a centerpiece of a team’s offense and a backup scoring option. He has 4 All-Star appearances in the past five seasons and made an All-NBA team a mere two seasons ago. Born right in the Bronx, Kemba has orange-and-blue blood running through his veins.

On the New York Knicks, Kemba will most likely stray away from his old Charlotte Hornets self, that used to hog the ball due to the absence of any help on offense. He will most likely be the second–or even third–scoring option, but at that point, he is probably fine with it.

Watching New York’s games was a bit tough last season, as the team excelled on defense, only to have no offensive coordination whatsoever. It was Julius Randle against the world. With the addition of Walker, teams will have to think twice about double-teaming New York’s superstar.

Other than that, not only does Kemba fit on the Knicks, but the Knicks fit exceptionally with him too. Walker was never thought to be that good of a defender and Tom Thibodeau can try to fix that. At the end of the day, he will still be surrounded by a squad of elite defenders.

Remember the frustration of watching the starting lineup at the pre-game show, only to have Elfrid Payton pop up out of nowhere? I do too, but fortunately, this all belongs to the past.

Cardiac Kemba’s arrival to the New York Knicks is about to turn a few heads. Quite a few people questioned his fit with the Boston Celtics, even though the team had much bigger fish to fry. Get excited Knicks fans, big things are coming your way!