The New York Knicks’ first preseason game is next week, and Derrick Rose just told us all that Kemba Walker will be the starting point guard.
The New York Knicks Media Day was two days ago, so we’re one step closer to preseason basketball and just steps away from opening night.
The question of who would start at point guard for the Knicks was buzzing in the offseason before Derrick Rose‘s reveal during Media Day offseason.
First off, it should be noted how great it is to hear Rose support his new teammate, who will share his position, and that he understands his role on this team as the backup point guard. This type of response indicates a strong culture that the front office, coaching staff, and players established last season. Also, it’s an indication that Rose is one of the leaders of this team and takes that responsibility seriously.
But should Kemba Walker starting over Rose come as a surprise? No, and here’s why.
One, Kemba has been a starter more recently than Derrick has. Rose has been in a bench role since the 2017-18 season, when he transitioned to the bench due to an injury as a Cleveland Cavalier. Post-injury, he started to establish a bench presence with the Minnesota Timberwolves and began to get capped around 25 minutes per game.
Speaking of Rose’s capped minutes, even today it would be tough to have him in the starting lineup since his injury history could impact his ability to last the entire game. Sure, the same could be said for Kemba due to his knee injury. But even when Kemba was injured on the Boston Celtics last season, he still averaged 31.8 minutes per game.
Side note: Kemba hasn’t averaged under 30 minutes per game since his rookie season.
Some of us may have thought that there was a chance that Rose could’ve started since he did start during the 2020-21 NBA playoffs. In reality, that was due to the fact that he was the only one that really showed up during the playoffs, and Elfrid Payton didn’t offer much offense. In addition to his minute restriction, it would not make much sense to have Rose start because he was great with the second unit last season.
According to Cleaning the Glass, the lineup of Rose, Immanuel Quickley, Alec Burks, Obi Toppin, and Taj Gibson had a plus differential of +17.9, which had them ranked in the 86th percentile – their percentile is based against a total of 271 lineups that had at least 100 possessions throughout the entire 2020-21 season.
Now, for the most part, this was the Knicks bench unit competing with other bench units. Although they haven’t really been tested against starters, the fact that this unit produced at such a high level means they are a powerful squad to compete with.
Keeping Rose with the bench unit enables the Knicks to continue what worked last season: a thunder and lightning effect in which the starters got physical in the paint, while the second unit was fast and dynamic.
Think about it: for a team that already knows each other’s tendencies so well, another year of adding information from the playbook, plus growth from Quickley and Toppin, should help the second unit take a step forward. Not to mention, once Mitch can return to the starting lineup and allow Nerlens Noel to provide his rim protection for the second unit, this squad should be potent once again.
So while we aren’t very surprised by Rose’s announcement of Walker as the starter as Rose returns to the bench, what we are really thinking about is how there are two high-quality point guards on the team. The only concern: can both stay healthy for a majority of the season?
Stay tuned to KnicksFanTV.com for the latest Knicks news, rumors, and recaps heading into the regular season. Also, make sure to check out the latest update on the Knicks training camp!
