Henry Walker

Often playing centre at Wisconsin, Marcus [Landry] is reinventing himself as a three point shooting small forward at the NBA level, decently athletic and with adequate defense. He played for both the Knicks and the Celtics last season in this role, surviving most of the season on an NBA roster. However, the prognosis for such players is about a one or two year career. Bill Walker's been lucky to have signed a four year contract; however, other players of a similar ilk (Demetris Nichols, Rob Kurz, Kaniel Dickens, Marcus Vinicius) have never gotten beyond the two year mark. This of course does not dictate that it is over for Landry, or even that it will be soon; it does, however, suggest that he needs a new string to his bow.

This is Ewing Jr's third time with the Knicks; he was traded to the team in time for training camp 2008, and was also with them for summer leagues in both 2009 and 2010. Ewing didn't play last year due to injury, which leaves him in the awkward situation of being a 26 year old athlete recovering a significant injury, with next to no professional experience (29 games in the D-League only), and still with underdeveloped ball skills. There's still productivity there, but this must be the season he gets it underway.

Bill Walker

Walker was also included in the Nate Robinson deal, thoroughly taking Landry's place on the team. He's a similar player to Landry, and yet he's better. The Knicks don't need both, and if Landry does not make the team, this will be why.

(Note: when I say "Landry", I refer to Marcus Landry. Conceivably, however, I could mean Landry Fields as well.)

(As was the case with DeAndre Jordan above, waiving Walker would open up a further $380,785 in cap room. However, that too seems like overkill. You've got $36 million in store, why waste a decent young shooter for less than $400k more?)