The Knicks lost one center to injury on Wednesday but should be getting another injured center back this weekend.
Knicks reserve center Ariel Hukporti will be re-evaluated in 4-6 weeks after undergoing successful surgery on a torn meniscus, the team announced on Friday.
Hukporti suffered the injury on Wednesday against the Sixers in his first career start.
The Knicks are awfully thin at center right now. Karl-Anthony Towns missed Wednesday’s game due to a knee ailment. Mitchell Robinson also sat out as he is still working his way back from offseason foot surgery.
A sliver of positive news for the Knicks? Robinson is expected to return this weekend during New York’s two-game road trip, per SNY sources. The club plays at Memphis on Friday and at Miami on Sunday.
Robinson hasn’t played since Game 1 of the Knicks’ second-round series against Indiana last spring. He underwent surgery to repair a foot injury and his timetable for return has been vague. The Knicks have taken a cautious approach with Robinson; both the player and team say they want to ensure that Robinson is 100 percent healthy upon his return.
It will take Robinson some time to regain his rhythm and in-game conditioning. That’s why the Hukporti injury is significant. Hukporti had been playing back-up center for the Knicks regularly in the past few weeks. He was elevated to that role after New York traded Jericho Sims to Milwaukee at the trade deadline.
Hukporti, whose injury diagnosis was first reported by ESPN, had averaged 12 minutes per game over the past three-plus weeks.
He scored eight points (4-for-5 from the floor) with two rebounds and a block in 16 minutes on Wednesday against Philadelphia. It is unclear when Hukporti hurt his knee, but he seemed to be limping after a sequence early in the second half. He remained in the game briefly and was taken out. Hukporti was tended to by the Knick training staff and returned to the game in the fourth quarter before leaving again about a minute into the quarter.
With Hukporti out, all of New York’s centers are either injured or dealing with an injury entering Friday’s game against Memphis.
The Knicks can add a veteran center to the roster as early as Friday. Their team salary is hard-capped at the second apron, but they’ll have enough cap space under the apron to add a veteran’s minimum deal. Before the Hukporti injury, both T.J. Warren and Chuma Okeke were among the players on New York’s radar for the open roster spot.
With Hukporti out, the Knicks could pivot to signing a center or ask Precious Achiuwa to play more in the middle. New York also has the option of signing players on 10-day contracts as it sorts out the situation.
Yossi Gozlan of The Third Apron explains that the Knicks will be able to add a new free agent later in the season if they wait until Saturday – at the earliest – to sign someone.
Here’s how Gozlan, who offers fantastic insight on the salary cap on his YouTube channel, explains the sequencing:
If the Knicks sign a player on February 28, their roster is finalized. They wouldn’t have enough room below the second apron to sign another player if they wanted him to replace someone already on the roster. But if they delay signing someone to a rest of season contract by one day, they’ll have room to make an additional signing on the last day of the season. The longer they delay signing someone to a rest of season contract now, the earlier they could make an additional one later.
Read the full article here