When the Knicks signed Kemba Walker to a two-year contract this past offseason, there was plenty of optimism that the New York-native was exactly the kind of point guard the team needed to take a step forward.
But the marriage between Walker and the Knicks has turned out to be a disastrous one, and now Walker will not be suiting up in a Knicks uniform again this season.
The Knicks and Walker have reached an agreement to have the 31-year-old sit out of the team’s remaining schedule.
“We fully support Kemba’s decision to shut it down for the remainder of the season and use this time to prepare for next season,” Knicks president Leon Rose said in a statement. “His long-term success on the court remains our priority.”
The UConn product will still have one year and about $9.1 million left on his contract, but his expiring deal will help the Knicks look into trading him this summer.
Despite how it looked on paper, Walker proved to be a mismatch with the Knicks from the early going. His numbers and minutes took a dip to 11.6 points and 3.5 assists in about 26 minutes per game, but by mid-November he was completely out of Tom Thibodeau’s rotation, thanks in part to his defensive struggles.
When the Knicks’ roster was decimated by injury and COVID in mid-December, Walker was forced back into the rotation. But with Derrick Rose soon to return from late-December ankle surgery, Walker will once again find himself out of the rotation, with SNY’s Ian Begley noting that this will clear a rotation spot for Rose or RJ Barrett (also coming back from an ankle injury), while also leaving room for younger players like Quentin Grimes and Cam Reddish.
The Knicks will be back in action on Friday night, when they host the Miami Heat in their first game following the All-Star break. The Knicks are currently 25-34, good for just 12th place in the Eastern Conference and on the outside looking in at the current playoff picture.