The Knicks Injury Report thread.

[GONYK]

What shot creator was traded at the deadline?

Rozier? Siakam? But the point is what shot creators were available? Kuzma, Derozan, etc. And honestly more importantly, how many people on this board actually felt the Knicks needed a shot creator. Maybe that's my point of even bringing this up. According to the peanut gallery, the Knicks didn't need a shot creator in 2011-2012 (and we saw what happened when you only got one come playoff time), they didn't need one last year (cause an injured Randle was enough to go with Brunson) and they didn't need one this year either (even though the team state seemed quite like the past 2 seasons).

The Bulls weren't trading DeRozan away in the middle of their play-in push. But Kuzma was my first suggestion when Julius got hurt. I think our defense & rebounding is good enough for Jalen to beat anyone other than Boston...but our offense will be slog if Julius isn't back to at least decoy for Jalen, like he did last spring.

The FO made the choice to not trade long term assets, like 1sts, to fix a short term problem (OG and Julius injuries). Derozan is expiring and neither he nor Kuzma are going to be paid $20M/yr to play Obi Toppin mins next season and beyond. On top of that, those players don't really fit what we do.

This season might be lost to injuries, but the proof of concept was established in January and can be built on next season. There's no need to overleverage now.

[Knicksfan1992]

What is the collective opinion on what's wrong with Julius Randle?

I was speculating while watching his Roommates podcast episode. Both arms were moving around a lot, lifted and rested on the top of the chairs back rest... You typically cannot comfortably do this with a tear. I know it sounds dumb but I lived through the injury for a long time.

It's probably kind of common to rest for a few weeks and then play through a shoulder impingement followed by offseason surgery. The next level is when the MRI shows a labrum andor rotator cuff tear. My assumption has always been this is what happened to Randle and they want to let it rest for as long as possible... Carmelo Anthony played through labrum and rotator cuff tear late 2012. Remember KG pulled on it... I guess I'm confused because if they're resting a tear then why not give a timeline of return. He's probably out for the season?

My optimistic take is: Based on what has been reported the only real risk to him playing on it is re-injury. And so with that in mind, my hopeful guess is that since it isn't a leg injury, then they're willing to sit him out until the last few games of the season to avoid injury. He can maintain cardio and leg shape but, that would allow him build some sort of game rhythm before the playoffs while helping mitigate potential re-injury before the playoffs. However, I realize this take gets less plausible as each game passes by.

Also, I do think Julius's slow start and his poor playoff performance is sort of being misconstrued with him being rusty when coming back from this one. Having an injury to your legs limits you way more than an upper body injury. He probably wasn't able to do any cardio involving basketball activities for most of the offseason and you're definitely not able to shoot when your lower legs are impacted. From what we know now Julius has been able to run, jump and shoot for a while now. While nothing can truly simulate game action, I think he'll be way ahead of where he was both entering last year's playoffs and this season as far as conditioning goes...

That all being said my negative take is that:

Julius playoff struggles have been real and the Knicks are trying to shield him from having the burden of another playoff letdown be put on his shoulders (no pun intended). Going in injured naturally lowers expectations and they don't expect much from him if anything at all and this is all a smoke screen for the inevitable surgery that's going to occur after the season. Basically a way to keep the fans hope up while knowing we're inevitably doomed. Also helps preserve any trade value he may have.

[cgf]

Rozier? Siakam? But the point is what shot creators were available? Kuzma, Derozan, etc. And honestly more importantly, how many people on this board actually felt the Knicks needed a shot creator. Maybe that's my point of even bringing this up. According to the peanut gallery, the Knicks didn't need a shot creator in 2011-2012 (and we saw what happened when you only got one come playoff time), they didn't need one last year (cause an injured Randle was enough to go with Brunson) and they didn't need one this year either (even though the team state seemed quite like the past 2 seasons).

The Bulls weren't trading DeRozan away in the middle of their play-in push. But Kuzma was my first suggestion when Julius got hurt. I think our defense & rebounding is good enough for Jalen to beat anyone other than Boston...but our offense will be slog if Julius isn't back to at least decoy for Jalen, like he did last spring.

The FO made the choice to not trade long term assets, like 1sts, to fix a short term problem (OG and Julius injuries). Derozan is expiring and neither he nor Kuzma are going to be paid $20M/yr to play Obi Toppin mins next season and beyond. On top of that, those players don't really fit what we do.

This season might be lost to injuries, but the proof of concept was established in January and can be built on next season. There's no need to overleverage now.

The FO made that choice, but they had more than enough 1sts..'24 / '26 / '28 / '30 NYK + DAL / DET / MIL / WSH + '32 NYK this offseason...to afford better reinforcements at the deadline, a superstar trade this summer, and further tweaks after that.

Plus with Kuzma's team-friendly contract, we'd be in a better spot to pull off a big trade this summer with him and just 3 of our protected FRPs than we are with Bogey + all 4 of them.

So not a franchise changing catastrophe or anything, but we would've been in better shape...both short-term & long-...if we had spent a little bit more for a more useful stand-in.

[Capn'O]

Julius bulls around a lot with his shoulder. If it's hurting, I don't see a way he can go in the playoffs and be successful. It's such an integral part of his game.

The real bummer is, we really need to see how he responds as a HEALTHY second option in the playoffs before taking the next step, be it moving him or re-signing him.

[cgf]

Julius bulls around a lot with his shoulder. If it's hurting, I don't see a way he can go in the playoffs and be successful. It's such an integral part of his game.

The real bummer is, we really need to see how he responds as a HEALTHY second option in the playoffs before taking the next step, be it moving him or re-signing him.

I hear what you're saying, but even a heavily limited Randle really helps this team & Brunson, as we saw last postseason...+2.5 on-off for Julius despite his ankle needing surgery, and just a profound impact on Brunson's #s.

[Capn'O]

Julius bulls around a lot with his shoulder. If it's hurting, I don't see a way he can go in the playoffs and be successful. It's such an integral part of his game.

The real bummer is, we really need to see how he responds as a HEALTHY second option in the playoffs before taking the next step, be it moving him or re-signing him.

I hear what you're saying, but even a heavily limited Randle really helps this team & Brunson, as we saw last postseason...+2.5 on-off for Julius despite his ankle needing surgery, and just a profound impact on Brunson's #s.

No doubt. We need him and I suspect he'll give it a go if he can. I just wish it were different.

[GONYK]

The Bulls weren't trading DeRozan away in the middle of their play-in push. But Kuzma was my first suggestion when Julius got hurt. I think our defense & rebounding is good enough for Jalen to beat anyone other than Boston...but our offense will be slog if Julius isn't back to at least decoy for Jalen, like he did last spring.

The FO made the choice to not trade long term assets, like 1sts, to fix a short term problem (OG and Julius injuries). Derozan is expiring and neither he nor Kuzma are going to be paid $20M/yr to play Obi Toppin mins next season and beyond. On top of that, those players don't really fit what we do.

This season might be lost to injuries, but the proof of concept was established in January and can be built on next season. There's no need to overleverage now.

The FO made that choice, but they had more than enough 1sts..'24 / '26 / '28 / '30 NYK + DAL / DET / MIL / WSH + '32 NYK this offseason...to afford better reinforcements at the deadline, a superstar trade this summer, and further tweaks after that.

Plus with Kuzma's team-friendly contract, we'd be in a better spot to pull off a big trade this summer with him and just 3 of our protected FRPs than we are with Bogey + all 4 of them.

So not a franchise changing catastrophe or anything, but we would've been in better shape...both short-term & long-...if we had spent a little bit more for a more useful stand-in.

I disagree that Kuzma is on a team friendly deal when there is no time for him on a team with a healthy Julius Randle.

His contract wouldn't be friendly on this team

[god shammgod]

We have 8 games left and these guys aren't even taking contact.

this aint our year. it is what it. i'm more concerned with guys hurting themselves further than advancing in the playoffs. doesn't seem worth it

[cgf]

The FO made the choice to not trade long term assets, like 1sts, to fix a short term problem (OG and Julius injuries). Derozan is expiring and neither he nor Kuzma are going to be paid $20M/yr to play Obi Toppin mins next season and beyond. On top of that, those players don't really fit what we do.

This season might be lost to injuries, but the proof of concept was established in January and can be built on next season. There's no need to overleverage now.

The FO made that choice, but they had more than enough 1sts..'24 / '26 / '28 / '30 NYK + DAL / DET / MIL / WSH + '32 NYK this offseason...to afford better reinforcements at the deadline, a superstar trade this summer, and further tweaks after that.

Plus with Kuzma's team-friendly contract, we'd be in a better spot to pull off a big trade this summer with him and just 3 of our protected FRPs than we are with Bogey + all 4 of them.

So not a franchise changing catastrophe or anything, but we would've been in better shape...both short-term & long-...if we had spent a little bit more for a more useful stand-in.

I disagree that Kuzma is on a team friendly deal when there is no time for him on a team with a healthy Julius Randle.

His contract wouldn't be friendly on this team

He and Randle wouldn't both be on this team next season, just like Bogey

[sol537]

We have 8 games left and these guys aren't even taking contact.

this aint our year. it is what it. i'm more concerned with guys hurting themselves further than advancing in the playoffs. doesn't seem worth it

It sucks that we can finally go toe to toe with virtually any team when fully healthy and... we can't seem to get healthy

[NoDopeOnSundays]

We have 8 games left and these guys aren't even taking contact.

this aint our year. it is what it. i'm more concerned with guys hurting themselves further than advancing in the playoffs. doesn't seem worth it

Best Knicks team in decades, and they're going to limp into the playoffs, and it's entirely too late to tank. Being a fan is a Greek tragedy

[cgf]

We have 8 games left and these guys aren't even taking contact.

this aint our year. it is what it. i'm more concerned with guys hurting themselves further than advancing in the playoffs. doesn't seem worth it

It sucks that we can finally go toe to toe with virtually any team when fully healthy and... we can't seem to get healthy

We can go toe to toe with virtually any team as we are, it's only Boston that we don't stand a chance against without getting healthy...unless they just implode.

[sol537]

this aint our year. it is what it. i'm more concerned with guys hurting themselves further than advancing in the playoffs. doesn't seem worth it

It sucks that we can finally go toe to toe with virtually any team when fully healthy and... we can't seem to get healthy

We can go toe to toe with virtually any team as we are, it's only Boston that we don't stand a chance against without getting healthy...unless they just implode.

They can't go toe to toe with any of the true contenders in a 7 game series without a healthy OG. Don't let the regular season fool you.

Denver, Boston, OKC, Minny, etc would all beat us in 5 while we watch Hart pass up or brick wide open three's all series long and DDV get worked on the defensive end by dynamic wings.

[cgf]

It sucks that we can finally go toe to toe with virtually any team when fully healthy and... we can't seem to get healthy

We can go toe to toe with virtually any team as we are, it's only Boston that we don't stand a chance against without getting healthy...unless they just implode.

They can't go toe to toe with any of the true contenders in a 7 game series without a healthy OG. Don't let the regular season fool you.

Denver, Boston, OKC, Minny, etc would all beat us in 5 while we watch Hart pass up or brick wide open three's all series long and DDV get worked on the defensive end by dynamic wings.

Good thing Boston is the only one of those between us and the finals

[sol537]

We can go toe to toe with virtually any team as we are, it's only Boston that we don't stand a chance against without getting healthy...unless they just implode.

They can't go toe to toe with any of the true contenders in a 7 game series without a healthy OG. Don't let the regular season fool you.

Denver, Boston, OKC, Minny, etc would all beat us in 5 while we watch Hart pass up or brick wide open three's all series long and DDV get worked on the defensive end by dynamic wings.

Good thing Boston is the only one of those between us and the finals

Milwaukee, Miami, and Philly (with even a semi healthy Embiid) could all also beat us fairly easily if we don't have OG (and Randle). Sure, we'd battle them and grit and grind... maybe steal a game or two or even three but, ultimately, we wouldn't have the horses to prevail against those squads, IMO.

[Spree2Houston]

We can go toe to toe with virtually any team as we are, it's only Boston that we don't stand a chance against without getting healthy...unless they just implode.

They can't go toe to toe with any of the true contenders in a 7 game series without a healthy OG. Don't let the regular season fool you.

Denver, Boston, OKC, Minny, etc would all beat us in 5 while we watch Hart pass up or brick wide open three's all series long and DDV get worked on the defensive end by dynamic wings.

Good thing Boston is the only one of those between us and the finals

We dominated Miami in the regular season last year. How did that turn out lol

[NoDopeOnSundays]

this aint our year. it is what it. i'm more concerned with guys hurting themselves further than advancing in the playoffs. doesn't seem worth it

It sucks that we can finally go toe to toe with virtually any team when fully healthy and... we can't seem to get healthy

We can go toe to toe with virtually any team as we are, it's only Boston that we don't stand a chance against without getting healthy...unless they just implode.

We need to be at full strength, we're not beating Miami or Milwaukee with just Brunson being a main scoring option by himself, it'll be like the Heat series last year where he averaged 30ppg and it just wasn't enough. When our opponents are playing 40-44mpg like us we'll lose the edge we have over teams we have during the regular season. You're expecting entirely too much from this team if you think Brunson will beat Lillard/Giannis by himself, the team needs to be fully healthy to have a shot against the top of the east and we're not healthy.

[GONYK]

The FO made that choice, but they had more than enough 1sts..'24 / '26 / '28 / '30 NYK + DAL / DET / MIL / WSH + '32 NYK this offseason...to afford better reinforcements at the deadline, a superstar trade this summer, and further tweaks after that.

Plus with Kuzma's team-friendly contract, we'd be in a better spot to pull off a big trade this summer with him and just 3 of our protected FRPs than we are with Bogey + all 4 of them.

So not a franchise changing catastrophe or anything, but we would've been in better shape...both short-term & long-...if we had spent a little bit more for a more useful stand-in.

I disagree that Kuzma is on a team friendly deal when there is no time for him on a team with a healthy Julius Randle.

His contract wouldn't be friendly on this team

He and Randle wouldn't both be on this team next season, just like Bogey

How are you thinking the offseason is going to play out?

The only way I see Randle being gone is in a star trade.

[GONYK]

Read on Twitter

?t=TIs0daG0Vkm-sKSKP_a74w&s=01

[GONYK]

What is the collective opinion on what's wrong with Julius Randle?

I was speculating while watching his Roommates podcast episode. Both arms were moving around a lot, lifted and rested on the top of the chairs back rest... You typically cannot comfortably do this with a tear. I know it sounds dumb but I lived through the injury for a long time.

It's probably kind of common to rest for a few weeks and then play through a shoulder impingement followed by offseason surgery. The next level is when the MRI shows a labrum andor rotator cuff tear. My assumption has always been this is what happened to Randle and they want to let it rest for as long as possible... Carmelo Anthony played through labrum and rotator cuff tear late 2012. Remember KG pulled on it... I guess I'm confused because if they're resting a tear then why not give a timeline of return. He's probably out for the season?

My optimistic take is: Based on what has been reported the only real risk to him playing on it is re-injury. And so with that in mind, my hopeful guess is that since it isn't a leg injury, then they're willing to sit him out until the last few games of the season to avoid injury. He can maintain cardio and leg shape but, that would allow him build some sort of game rhythm before the playoffs while helping mitigate potential re-injury before the playoffs. However, I realize this take gets less plausible as each game passes by.

Also, I do think Julius's slow start and his poor playoff performance is sort of being misconstrued with him being rusty when coming back from this one. Having an injury to your legs limits you way more than an upper body injury. He probably wasn't able to do any cardio involving basketball activities for most of the offseason and you're definitely not able to shoot when your lower legs are impacted. From what we know now Julius has been able to run, jump and shoot for a while now. While nothing can truly simulate game action, I think he'll be way ahead of where he was both entering last year's playoffs and this season as far as conditioning goes...

That all being said my negative take is that:

Julius playoff struggles have been real and the Knicks are trying to shield him from having the burden of another playoff letdown be put on his shoulders (no pun intended). Going in injured naturally lowers expectations and they don't expect much from him if anything at all and this is all a smoke screen for the inevitable surgery that's going to occur after the season. Basically a way to keep the fans hope up while knowing we're inevitably doomed. Also helps preserve any trade value he may have.

The honest sense I get, based on nothing medical but sort of little comments from people like Begley, is that everyone is waiting for Julius to feel comfortable with moving forward.

Not saying he's dogging it or anything. I think he wants to come back. Just saying that he is being extra cautious.

I don't think, organizationally speaking, anyone cares that much whether the Knicks are 3rd or 5th entering the playoffs.