Last year’s Knicks didn’t suffer from an injury bug so much as the plague. After losing Mitchell Robinson, Julius Randle and OG Anunoby for a majority of their post-trade season, Randle re-injured himself trying to make it back for the playoffs while the rest of the team’s key pieces went down one after another.
Robinson suffered a stress injury to his left ankle that required surgery, Anunoby injured his hamstring the second round vs. the Indiana Pacers and Jalen Brunson fractured his left hand in their losing Game 7 effort. Unfortunately, that cascade of injuries seems to be impacting this new season before it’s even begun.
According to SNY’s Ian Begley, it would be “surprising” if Randle is ready to go by the start of training camp, with his comeback likely slated for Opening Night or even in the games to follow. On top of that, as of two weeks ago, Robinson was still working through rehab, and has to “clear several hurdles” to be ready for training camp.
Though the Randle news may be alarming to some fans, it’s about what to expect. While many players returned to action within a couple of months of their original injury, Randle re-injured his separated shoulder trying to make it back for the postseason and required surgery.
In those cases, the standard recovery can be between 4-6 months. Randle’s surgery was in April, making October’s Opening Night the sixth-month mark.
Randle’s game is especially bruising and taxing on his shoulder, so the Knicks could play it especially safe with their newfound championship aspirations. There haven’t been many similar cases in recent NBA history, but Kevin Love’s similar injury and surgery in April of 2015 got him back in time to start the next season.
Robinson’s outlook is understandably weaker. Stress injuries that require surgery can commonly keep players out for up to six months, and even beyond with complications.
It was this same ankle that went under the knife in December for a stress fracture that kept Robinson out for four months. Re-injuring that ankle should, at the very least, mean a more cautious recovery for Robinson this time around, which means the Knicks could very well go into the season without their starting center.
They could have long-term concerns as well. Robinson has as many 30-games-played seasons than he does 60-games-played seasons since 2020; multiple lower-body injuries and surgeries to a big man can compound in scary ways.
The only bright spots were Brunson looking on track and Anunoby not getting a mention. Brunson’s injury occurred in May, and though standard timelines differ based on multiple unknown factors, the full three-plus months time between his injury and training camp should be enough to expect him to suit up fully healthy come the new season.
Anunoby’s hamstring strain should be well behind him now. The most severe strains can take a couple months to heal but given he gave the Knicks a couple Game 7 buckets it was probably on the milder end and should be good to go.
With the possibility of going into the new campaign without their starting frontcourt, how can the Knicks adjust in the face of a tough opening schedule?
If Randle is only out for the short-term, they’ll likely bump Anunoby up a position and start either Donte DiVincenzo or Josh Hart. While they’ll miss Randle’s creation and overall impact, we’ve seen New York gut out longer stretches with fewer weapons around Brunson previously.
His recovery gives guys like Anunoby and newcomer Mikal Bridges a chance to shine offensively, and those reps could help drive their role for the rest of the season. Both have shown tremendous flashes and confounding absences in the face of larger offensive responsibilities, so the Knicks will need one to step up with the former.
The center position is the bigger adjustment, with less dependable backup options and a potentially longer wait time for reinforcements. Newly re-signed Precious Achiuwa appears to be next in line at the five, and had big moments playing the position last season.
It could be that he comes out and delivers the Knicks 35-plus solid minutes there. His mobility and switchability will help against Boston and he’s no slouch fighting on the boards, but if he keeps up short the Knicks can turn to more creative options.
Outside of a Jericho Sims leap, New York may need to turn to one of their forwards to play the five spot in stretches. That could be Randle once healthy, or Anunoby out of the gates.
The latter saw some spot minutes at the position last season, even holding his own defending Joel Embiid. Running a lineup with him in the middle and three other guys that can shoot, dribble, pass and defend around Brunson could wreak havoc.
The Randle-at-the-five configurations are the same principle, only with extra strength and star power. Getting to experiment with these looks early in the season could be the silver lining to the Knicks’ injury problems.
Of course, the optimal case is for all these players to return fully healthy in short order. Knicks fans had more than enough injuries to deal with last season, and the team is ready to prove they’re contenders with them out of the way.