(The original text was published on November 29, and the author is Sporting Gilbert of the McGregor News website. The content of the article does not represent the translator’s point of view)

Although it had been a long time, kenba Walker finally got a contract from the Lone Ranger. According to the report of Marc Stein, an insider of the alliance, the Lone Ranger is about to sign Walker, who has been looking for the next destination since he was traded to the piston by the Knicks on the draft night. The piston never intended to let Walker report to the team and finally cut it before the start of the season so that Walker could sign with other teams.

This season has just finished 1/4 of the schedule. Although the MVP candidate Dong Qiqi played very well, The Lone Ranger still stumbled out of the playoff team. In addition to Dong Qiqi, the lineup of The Lone Ranger had a lot of defects, which led to a disappointing start to the season after they finished their trip to the West last season.

Kenba Walker was selected as an All-Star four times in his career. Now he is 32 years old and has encountered some persistent problems in recent years. Although it is impossible for Walker to reverse the situation of Lone Ranger, how much help can he provide to Lone Ranger?

Kenba Walker’s current status

For various reasons, Walker’s performance last season was limited, but he did have some highlight moments on the court. In the 37 games played for the Knicks last season, Walker averaged 11.6 points, 3.5 assists and 3 rebounds, field goal percentage 40.3% hit 36.7%, and only 5.4 shots per game. One of Walker’s highlight moments was to score 44 points in the face of wizards and then win three pairs in the NBA Christmas wars of Knicks’s victory over Eagles.

Although Walker’s highlight moment is very high, the bad performance is more serious in just a few matches. Walker was completely removed from the rotation lineup at the end of November after playing the first 18 games in the Knicks. The opportunity to play in December came from Knicks’s understaffed due to injuries and epidemics. It is commendable that Walker is always ready to play in the difficult situation. Unfortunately, the return of Walker’s state did not last long, because the knee injury was found again in early January. Finally, in February, Walker and Knicks agreed to end the cooperation this season.

It has been nearly 10 months since kenba Walker last appeared in NBA on February 16. The knee problem made Walker miss 16 games in the 2019-20 season, 29 games in the 2020-21 season, and only 3 games in the 5 playoffs in 2021. Therefore, whether Walker can make a difference in the Lone Ranger depends to a large extent on the health of his knees.

Where can kenba Walker help The Lone Ranger?

As we all know, Lone Ranger has been trying every means to make up for the vacancy after Brunson left this season. Brunson left The Lone Ranger in July this year and joined the Knicks as a free agent. Brunson played 79 games on behalf of the Lone Ranger last season, 61 of which were the starting game. As the No. 2 attacker beside dongcheqi, he was able to efficiently get an average of 16.3 points and 4.8 assists. Walker’s career averaged 19.5 points and 5.3 assists, but at this stage he could not completely fill the vacancy of Brunson.

In addition to Ding Weidi, who has entered the first of the Lone Ranger this season, Walker can also create offensive opportunities for himself and his teammates and reduce the pressure on Dong Qiqi. Ding Weidi will remain in the starting line-up, so Walker’s main role is the creator of the offensive opportunity of the substitute line-up, with partners Wood, little Hardaway, Kleber, Mackey and Josh Green.

When Walker and donchic are present at the same time, he can play with the ball or without the ball. Walker with the ball in hand, his ability to control the ball and his ability to organize can relieve the pressure of Dong Qiqi, the latter’s utilization rate at the critical moment of this season is as high. Walker without Balls is still a stable threat receive the ball. Just last season, Walker shot 40.9% in three points during his receive the ball in the Knicks (27 out of 66 shots), which has a good reference for the Lone Ranger, because almost half of the three-point goals of this team come from the assists of Dong Qiqi.

Walker is a good player for a football dealer, and there should be not many problems in adapting to the new system built by Kidd in the Lone Ranger. Walker’s way of helping the Lone Ranger is clear, but all this ultimately depends on his health. Let’s wait and see what the 32-year-old player can do.

Original text: Gilbert McGregor

Compile: Li Taibai

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