The New York Knicks got a bit too excited this past off-season, adding offensive playmakers, but they completely forgot how dominant their defense was during the 2020–21 season, which created a new identity for the team.
They elected to spend big money on acquiring Evan Fournier on a four-year, $72 million deal and landed Kemba Walker on a two-year, $17.9 million contract. However, both Fournier and Walker have been awful contributors on defense, failing to get into proper positioning and guarding the perimeter.
This led to head coach Tom Thibodeau pulling Walker from the rotation, especially after an abysmal November, where he shot just 29.