Like ringing the bell in Philadelphia or playing “Sweet Caroline” at Red Sox games, it’s become an opening night tradition for the Knicks to roll out a new point guard, with Kemba Walker taking the mantle as the latest gamble in New York’s ongoing quest for something, anything, resembling backcourt continuity. When Walker takes the floor against his former team, the Boston Celtics, Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden, he’ll become the 12th different point guard to start an opening night game for the Knicks since 2009. Here is the full list, courtesy of Forbes writer Tommy Beer. Props to Felton, the lone player to garner two opening night assignments during that span.
You’re looking at the revolving door of all revolving doors. Of those players, only three—Derrick Rose, Trey Burke and Elfrid Payton—are still in the league with just Rose remaining on the Knicks’ active roster. That’s an exhausting amount of roster turnover and an indication of what this tortured franchise has been through in the past decade, weathering countless regime changes and constant instability, both on and off the court.
Despite his pedigree as a four-time NBA All-Star, Walker comes with plenty of risk after a failed two-year stint in Boston, not giving the Celtics much bang for their buck after signing him to a monster, four-year, $141-million max contract. The six-foot guard remains a productive player when healthy, though injuries reduced him to a part-time role in Boston, rarely suiting up on back-to-back nights.
Point guard woes aside, the Knicks should be encouraged coming off one of their best seasons in recent memory, ending an eight-year playoff drought thanks to Most Improved Player Julius Randle and Coach of the Year Tom Thibodeau. Analytics site FiveThirtyEight projects the Knicks to win 43 games this year, good for the Eastern Conference’s No. 8 seed.
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