Best NY Knicks signing No. 1) Landing Kemba Walker on a $17 million deal
For those of you who thought the top signing this offseason wouldn’t be Kemba Walker — well, you likely don’t exist.
Walker was an unbelievable steal for the NY Knicks this summer, and every fan should know exactly why.
First off, the team’s biggest rotational sore spot last season was at the point guard position, where, at the end of the campaign, they had Derrick Rose and, well, that was essentially it, especially in the postseason (before you start arguing Immanuel Quickley, he was best served at the two during his rookie season and you know it).
Targeting more options at the one should have always been the main priority this offseason, be it via trade — names like Damian Lillard and Collin Sexton were often floated around — or on the open market.
However, the problem was that the main targets Knicks fans were hoping for — including the names listed above as well as guys like Lonzo Ball, Mike Conley, and Chris Paul — all would have cost the franchise a ton to acquire, with the likes of draft picks, current players, and often simply just cash all being viewed as expendable assets.
Ultimately, however, New York wound up standing pat which, at first, had some fans fearing that the rotation had no shot of getting any better.
Then, of course, the buyout with Kemba Walker and the OKC Thunder happened, the stars aligned, and the Bronx native headed home to where it all began — New York.
The 4x All-Star and an All-NBA selection just three seasons ago, unfortunately, has been hindered by injuries for the better part of the past two years and, sadly, there are some who believe said ailments will linger for the remainder of his career.
Having said that, even with these truths, the man still managed to post a solid stat line of 19.3 points, 4.9 assists, four boards, and 1.1 steals per game last season on 36 percent shooting from deep.
Yes, when watching him last year with Boston it was apparent that he was lethargic at times and proved to be rather inconsistent throughout the year but, frankly, while some of this can easily be blamed on his knee ailments, a large part of this was likely due to the truncated season combined with the fact that he missed all of training camp AND the first month of action as he rehabbed.
At an average salary of $8.9 million through 2022-23, taking a chance on a player who was one of the game’s best point guards (as we mentioned, a position of serious need for this team) not two years ago is not only the best move the NY Knicks have made this offseason but, frankly, one of the best moves made in the entire league in my humble opinion.