Allow Me To Explain To Knicks Fans What They're Getting In Kemba Walker

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By now, everyone has heard the Kemba news. The Thunder cut him a huge check and he's off to New York for a modest $8M this year with an option for next. Clem gave you things from a Knicks side, but as someone that has watched every second of Kemba play these last two seasons, I am not someone who believes Kemba is washed. You can look up the dozens of blogs on this fine website. So just because he is now on the Knicks, that doesn't really change how I view Kemba. If anyone can give Knicks fans an expectation of what they're getting themselves into, I feel pretty qualified. 

Let's start out with the biggest elephant in the room. Kemba's health. Before his Boston tenure, Kemba was an iron man. The guy never missed a game, even as he started to age. From 2016-2019 he missed a total of 6 games. As we know, Nick Nurse ruined him in the All Star game in 2019-20 and he was never the same since. That's always going to be the question moving forward with Kemba because what version you get completely depends on his knees/health. When he's right, he's still effective. Just take last season for example. The Celts had him on a load management plan all year, and after a slow first 10 games he finished the final 33 games putting up 20.6/4.1/5.1 on 44/37% splits. He was the same old Kemba. Unfortunately, that health thing once again didn't hold up towards the end of the season and the rest is history.

Here's the thing about watching Kemba play. It's an up and down journey. As a streaky shooter, you're going to have nights where he goes 3-16 and can't seem to throw a pea in the ocean. The next night his jumper looks pure and he's back to being the Kemba you remember. The key is understanding who he is as a player and setting your expectations accordingly. There were times Celts fans got upset because he shot 43/37%, despite that being what he's been his entire career. Given the point guard talent the Knicks have had these last few decades, I doubt they care. To get the most out of Kemba, it's pretty important that Thibs avoids certain things, especially if his health is still up in the air.

Most importantly, avoid isolation. This is probably where all Celt fans saw the biggest dropoff from 2019 to 2020. Kemba went from the 83rd percentile his first year to just the 27th percentile last year, shooting just 24% in those situations. The weird part was it wasn't really a quickness thing. Once Kemba got his legs under him after those first 10 games, he moved the same way. This is a little concerning because the Knicks were 4th in the NBA in isolation frequency. Where Kemba is much more effective is in the P&R. A nice 92nd percentile finish in 2019 and a 66th percentile last year. The big thing here will be if Kemba's shooting comes around now that he's had all this time to get healthy. His ability to score in the midrange can be deadly and you'll be frustrated at times he doesn't do it more. This is good news for Knicks fans because P&R ball handler offense frequency was 2nd in the NBA. It was on par with what the Hawks run. That's the type of offense you can get the most out of Kemba with. Especially with a roll man like Randle who will command attention.

I would consider Kemba a scorer, but not a "shooter" if that makes sense. Despite that, he still shot 39.3% on catch & shoot threes last year and 42% in 2019. Essentially, if you want to have sets where you have Fournier or RJ or Randle initiate offense, you can feel comfortable with Kemba playing off ball for stretches. When it comes to Kemba's playmaking I certainly wouldn't call him a pass first point guard, but I do think he's an underrated passer. Especially if teams have to respect his offense. That will probably be a pleasant surprise for Knicks fans just like it was for me once I got to watch him up close.

Of course, it's not all positive. The one thing the Knicks will have to deal with when it comes to Kemba (and really Fournier as well) is on the defensive end. Can Thibs turn that around? I'm not so sure. The issue with Kemba isn't that he's "bad" defensively. He gets right into the ball, is fantastic at taking charges and has active hands. The issue is his size. He gets targeted on the regular. In a playoff series, he gets hunted. The same is true for Fournier. Having both of them on the floor will give you issues. Trust me, I lived it. 

What the Knicks are getting is a player that when healthy, can still produce at a high level. He's a fantastic locker room presence and he's going to help the chemistry big time. I'll remind you, both Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum took the two biggest leaps of their careers playing next to Kemba. Given the young core on the Knicks, that should excite you. Add in all the homecoming stuff and there's no reason to think it can't work as long as his knee holds up. 

So while it's a little weird for me to now have to watch Kemba as a Knick, I do sincerely hope it works out.