The more things change, the more they stay the same.
That's at least the case for Alec Burks, who finds himself playing for the New York Knicks once again after he was traded hours before Thursday's NBA trade deadline. Burks, along with teammate Bojan Bogdanovic, was traded by the Detroit Pistons to the Knicks for a package headlined by Quentin Grimes.
It's the second Knicks stint for Burks, who played with New York from 2020-22, and he's excited to return under coach Tom Thibodeau.
"I get a lot of love out here, so I’m glad to be back with everybody," Burks said before making his return official on Saturday, per Peter Botte of the New York Post. “My two-year stint was a lot of fun here, we won a lot of games, connected with a lot of fans, the playoff series, just a lot of different times I had as a Knick, at that point, just remembering all those times, I’m just glad to be back.”
Burks, 32, is in his 13th NBA campaign out of Colorado, but he's still proving to be an effective NBA player, averaging 12.6 points per game while shooting just north of 40 percent from beyond the three-point line entering Saturday's game. He offered a glimpse of what he could offer the Knicks as one of the bright spots of a 125-111 loss to Indiana, putting in 22 points off the bench, including 15 alone in the fourth quarter on 4-of-8 from deep.
While Burks is not exactly the kind of player that is going to determine whether or not the Knicks win a championship, he can provide valuable depth and shooting to help New York succeed in the postseason. It's hard to imagine Burks getting too many minutes over Donte DiVincenzo and Josh Hart in the playoffs but he'll likely pick up major minutes over the next few weeks with both OG Anunoby and Julius Randle respectively recovering from elbow and shoulder injuries.
Burks will look to follow up on his explosive return to New York on Monday when the Knicks embark on a brief road trip that begins in Houston (8 p.m. ET, MSG).
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