Knicks’ Alec Burks Sets Ugly NBA History In Return To Team

One of the bigger trades made ahead of the 2024 NBA Trade Deadline was the New York Knicks acquiring Alec Burks and Bojan Bogdanovic from the Detroit Pistons. Both are starting-caliber players in the league and would be joining a Knicks team that was looking to cement their place amongst the elite teams in the NBA.

Alas, injuries have kept that from coming to fruition to this point. The losing ways of the Pistons have followed Burks and Bogdanovic to the Big Apple, as New York has gone 3-7 with them on the roster.

Both have been thrust into sizable roles given how many key contributors are sidelined. Burks is handling a lot of the on-ball responsibilities when he checks into the game and Bogdanovic has been relied upon as a go-to scoring option.

Those roles will change once the Knicks are healthy, which they hope occurs sooner rather than later. Getting comfortable with a new team in the middle of the season is tough, but there was some hope Burks would adjust quickly given he spent two seasons previously playing under Tom Thibodeau in New York.

Unfortunately, that has not been the case. More often than not, whenever Burks checks into the game, the team’s performance plummets. Burks has finished with a positive plus/minus ratio in only three games to this point, as his performance on the court has been underwhelming.

As shared by Tommy Beer on X, 169 players have averaged at least nine shots per game in the NBA since the trade deadline. Burks is one of those players and his true shooting percentage of 42% ranks dead last.