The New York Knicks Have Officially Signed This Four-Time All-Star Point Guard Who's Played For The Boston Celtics And Charlotte Hornets
The New York Knicks had the best season they've had in eight years last year when they went 41-31 and made the NBA Playoffs.
The trip to the playoffs was the first for the franchise since the 2013 NBA season.
Now, they have officially added more fire power to the roster in four-time NBA All-Star Kemba Walker (see Tweets below from the Knicks).
Walker has played ten seasons in the NBA for the Charlotte Hornets and Boston Celtics.
He was traded earlier in the offseason by the Celtics to the Oklahoma City Thunder, and Walker and the Thunder agreed to a contract buyout allowing him to sign with the Knicks (see Tweets below from the Thunder and Keith Smith of Spotrac).
The terms of Walker's new deal can also be seen embedded below from Smith in a Tweet.
Walker has career averages of 19.9 points and 5.4 assists per game.
How does this signing affect the rest of the Eastern Conference Playoff picture for the Indiana Pacers?
2020-21 top-ten teams in the Eastern Conference:
1.) 76ers
2.) Nets
3.) Bucks
4.) Knicks
5.) Hawks
6.) Heat
7.) Celtics
8.) Wizards
9.) Pacers
10.) Hornets
Some notable teams that did not meet expectations were the Miami Heat, and the Boston Celtics. The Heat were coming off an NBA Finals run, and seemed to be out of the same magic that got them there the last season in the NBA's bubble.
While the Celtics had injuries to Walker in the early part of the season, and lost All-Star Jaylen Brown at the end of the season.
Even without Walker, the Celtics will likely still be a better team than they were last season. Assuming that Brown comes back healthy and Jayson Tatum continues his natural progression to superstardom.
As for the top teams (Nets, Bucks and 76ers) Walker signing with the Knicks does not move the needle for the Knicks to compete with those teams.
However, the signing of Walker is bad news for a team like the Pacers.
The Pacers were hit with the injury big last season, and had a new head coach with no prior NBA head coaching experience. They are poised for a much healthier season this year and now have an NBA Champion in Rick Carlisle running the show.
The Knicks season last year might not have just been a one hit wonder, and adding Walker only makes them more poised for another run at a top-six seed.
Just three seasons ago Walker averaged 25.6 points per game, and while at 31 years old he may never average those kind of numbers again, he could still easily give the Knicks 18-20 points per game and help open up the floor for All-Star Julius Randle.
When looking at the Pacers chances of making the NBA Playoffs next season, the question lies in the fact of who is going to get worse?
The Pacers will certainly be better with a full season of Caris LeVert, Myles Turner and T.J. Warren hopefully back healthy.
Yet, many of the teams in the conference will likely be the same or better next season.
