{"id":41796,"date":"2021-08-06T13:02:32","date_gmt":"2021-08-06T17:02:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=41796"},"modified":"2026-02-28T15:11:28","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T20:11:28","slug":"kemba-walker-to-sign-with-new-york-knicks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2021\/08\/06\/kemba-walker-to-sign-with-new-york-knicks\/","title":{"rendered":"Kemba Walker to Sign with New York Knicks"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/walkeke02.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Kemba Walker<\/strong><\/a> is planning to sign with the New York Knicks after reaching a buyout with the Oklahoma City Thunder.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Kemba Walker Set to Join the New York Knicks<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>A whirlwind of an offseason may truly have a happy ending for Kemba Walker. The 6-foot guard flamed out with the Boston Celtics after signing a max contract in 2019, and was shipped to <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2021\/06\/18\/grading-the-kemba-walker-trade\/\" target=\"_self\">Oklahoma City in a salary dump<\/a>. A buyout was inevitable, but landing with the New York Knicks may just be the situation the four-time NBA All-Star needs to rejuvenate his career.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><\/figure>\r\n<p><blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Four-time All-Star guard Kemba Walker has agreed to a contract buyout with the Oklahoma City Thunder, and upon clearing waivers, plans to sign with the New York Knicks, sources tell ESPN.<\/p>&mdash; Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/wojespn\/status\/1422920447256141824?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">August 4, 2021<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\r\n<p>Walker averaged 19.3 points and 4.9 assists per game in 43 games last season, a career-low for the former UConn standout. He&#8217;ll join a backcourt where he won&#8217;t have to do as much heavy lifting, and that should take a toll off him. Coming home should benefit both sides and it won&#8217;t just be a feel-good story, as the Knicks have aspirations to build on one of the more memorable seasons in recent memory.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What the Walker Signing Means for the Future<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Bringing in Kemba Walker not only bolsters the backcourt, but it&#8217;s everything New York basketball fans could ask for. After striking out in the 2019 summer, Knicks management won&#8217;t complain about landing Walker on a team-friendly deal. Walker should slot right into the starting lineup, with the resurgent <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/r\/rosede01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Derrick Rose<\/a><\/strong>, who also re-signed earlier this week, serving as a very potent backup.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Injuries sapped Walker&#8217;s run in Boston, so maintaining health will be the biggest concern. With Rose ready and fully capable, it&#8217;s a win-win for the Knicks&#8217; immediate future. Walker&#8217;s influence and tutelage, as well as Rose&#8217;s, will be big for second-year guard <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/q\/quickim01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Immanuel Quickley<\/a><\/strong>, who could very well be the Knicks starting point guard for years to come.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Main Photo: <a id=\"nQ0FoHGJSW5jFjxq34NEmw\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1168032241\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'nQ0FoHGJSW5jFjxq34NEmw',sig:'Hn7wXlpsG6Kp6ukYgGArm0KHwfSR3exW5v08ckQv2_E=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1168032241',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kemba Walker is planning to sign with the New York Knicks after reaching a buyout with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Kemba Walker Set to Join the New York Knicks A whirlwind of an offseason may truly have a happy ending for Kemba Walker. The 6-foot guard flamed out with the Boston Celtics after signing a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3920,"featured_media":41817,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,62,12],"tags":[2033,4196],"class_list":["post-41796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-nba","category-knicks","tag-2021-nba-free-agency","tag-knicks-featured"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41796","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41796"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41796\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":179407,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41796\/revisions\/179407"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41817"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}