There is initial optimism that Landry Shamet will not need surgery after dislocating his right shoulder, SNY has learned.
The Knicks announced earlier Friday that Shamet would be re-evaluated at a later date.
He suffered the injury in the third quarter of the Knicks’ preseason win over Charlotte on Tuesday.
If he can avoid surgery, the Knicks wouldn’t necessarily need to waive Shamet ahead of the regular season. They can keep him on the roster and let him rehab the injury. I’d expect them to do just that if the club concludes that Shamet can heal the injury through rehab.
Shamet is on an Exhibit 9 contract. So if the Knicks waived him now, they would owe him only $15,000 and would have additional cap space to work with. But Shamet is expected to be an integral part of their rotation. So if he can avoid surgery and return to the floor after a period of rehabilitation, that would undoubtedly be positive for both Shamet and the Knicks.
With Shamet on the roster, the Knicks will have 13 players on standard NBA contracts.
I’d expect them to convert big man Ariel Hukporti’s two-way contract to a standard deal at some point. That would give them 14 players on standard NBA contracts.
The Knicks would then have an open spot for a two-way player.