FanPost

The Trey Burke Rabbit Hole

Losing to the Magic is never great, and the 4-13 New York Knicks gave up a staggering 44 points in the first quarter of the 131-117 loss. There is absolutely no rhyme or reason to David Fizdale's subbing, Rob Baker hasn't played a minute in what seems like forever, and Tim Hardaway Jr. continues to be the worst best player in the league. With that being said, there a multitude of positives coming from the youthful Knicks. Starting with Trey Burke. Burke put up 31 points in 29 minutes off the bench, after scoring 24 in 26 minutes against the Pelicans. He's now averaging 10.7 points, 3.3 assists, and 1.9 boards a game this season, but only averaging 20.5 minutes a game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6EX0esWvck

Burke has been a little bit of a strange case since coming into the league in 2013, and it's definitely worth delving into the background of the little man out of Michigan. Trey Burke was born in Columbus, Ohio to parents Ronda and Alfonso Clarke Burke III. Burke's father played Division II basketball at Northwest Missouri State University and would be a continuos influencer in Trey's basketball development. When Burke was five years old, the local rec league he played had to change the rules to not allow Burke over the half court line because he was stealing the ball to much from the opposing team. When I was five I got kicked out of my Kindergarden class for throwing blocks around the room, so there's a nice little me vs. Trey Burke indicator for the future. Burke then became best friends with Jared Sullinger in the fourth grade, and you know Sully was an absolute unit even in elementary school. If you have no memory of Sullinger, he's this guy.

https://twitter.com/rester_23/status/700890449213464576

Here's a pretty cool clip of Burke and Sullinger growing up together in Ohio.

https://twitter.com/NBAIndia/status/774963248546263040

Ohio is home to some powerhouse high school ball, and Burke had to choose between playing with Sullinger at Northland Highschool, or with his father, who was an assistant coach at Eastmoor Academy. Burke ended up choosing to go with Sully, and the point guard went on to have a 97-5 record during his time at the school. Burke won a state title, and was part of the team that held the number one spot in the country for most of the 2010 season. Sullinger was actually a grade above Burke, and when the big man left to Ohio State, Burke absolutely balled out his senior season, which culminated in getting named Mr. Basketball in the state of Ohio for the 2011 season. He finished as the 84th ranked player in the country, and the 15th best point guard according to ESPN. His senior year mixtape is pretty filthy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CX_DASxVSxs

Burke chose Michigan over an assortment of other schools, and was starting by the second game of his freshmen season. Burke didn't exactly take the college basketball world by complete storm, but he had very little problems with the transition. Burke finished his freshmen season averaging 14.8 points, 4.6 assists, and 3.5 rebounds. He generated a good amount of NBA buzz, but quickly shut down any chances of not returning to Michigan for his sophomore season. Burke's sophomore year was utter dominance. He improved all of his statistics finishing the regular season with 18.6 points, 6.7 assists and 1.7 steals a game. Burke entered the NCAA Tournament as one of the hottest players in the country, and he took center stage in the madness that was March that year. Burke led the Wolverines to the finals where they eventually lost Rick Pitino's Louisville. Burke's most memorable moment from the tournament is when he dropped 23 points and 10 assists in the Sweet 16 against Kansas, however it was the fashion in which he did it that made it so incredible. Scoring all 23 of his points in the second half and overtime, including an absurd step back three to tie it in regulation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICqnSGwvSNg

Burke more or less swept the individual awards from the 2012-2013 season, including the much coveted Player of the Year. Burke declared for the draft shortly after the end of the season, and went on to get picked 9th overall by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2013 draft, and then immediately was traded to the Utah Jazz for the 14th (Shabazz Muhhamad) and 21st (Gorgui Dieng) picks. People being so high on Muhammad still confuses me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXswF6R1N18

Burke would go onto to break his finger in a preseason game, and not actually make his debut for the Jazz until a month into the season. It's easy to assume that Burke didn't have a great rookie season, but the Michigan product actually kind of balled out. He started 68 games and averaged 12.8 points, 5.7 assists and 3.0 rebounds a game. He finished third in rookie of the year voting and made the all NBA Rookie team.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtZ7owJgLoM

Burke's career then went into a little bit of a downward spiral. The Jazz elected to select Dante Exum with the fifth pick in the 2014 draft, and Burke only started 43 games his sophomore season. All of his statistics went down, and he set the record for most three points shot taken in a game without a make going 0-11 in one contest. Burke also has a picture of his manhood go viral in the beginning of the 2014 season, and has to issue a former apology to the Utah Jazz community about it. So there's that.

Exum then tears his ACL before the 2015 season and people expected Burke to regain his starting role. Quin Snyder hits everybody with a bit of a curveball though and decides to start Raul Neto, due to his better passing abilities.

https://twitter.com/andyblarsen/status/659130358252728320

Burke's career with the Jazz ends the following summer, as he gets traded on July 7th, 2016 to the Washington Wizards for a 2021 second round pick. Burke didn't start a game for the Wizards and only averaged 12.3 minutes a contest. At the end of the season the Wizards chose not to extend his qualifying offer and Burke opted to become an unrestricted free agent. Burke then signs with the New York Knicks on October 11th, 2017 and almost immediately gets waived three days later. Burke is however announced on the Knicks G-League affiliate team, the Westchester Knicks. Burke balled out in his time in Westchester, averaging 26.6 points a game, and the Michigan product gets officially signed by the Knicks on January 14th, 2018.

Since then Burke has had a little bit of a roller coaster experience with the Knicks. He goes from coach decision DNP's to the clear best player on the court.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHQCZyxUfPs&t=287s

He obviously can get a bucket with the best of them, but is also obviously undersized on the defensive end and has limitations passing the ball. I do though think Burke is the current best option for the Knicks, and a much better option then the even more eradicate Emmanuel Mudiay. Burke is balling on a lot of levels right now, and Fiz should commit to getting him the most playing time out of the guards.

Ron Baker should have the second most though.