New York Knicks guard Landry Shamet might have avoided a major injury with his injured shoulder. ESPN’s Shams Charania reported on Wednesday that Shamet officially has a sprained right shoulder and will be re-evaluated in four weeks.
Knicks’ Landry Shamet avoids major shoulder injury
Charania added that Shamet has begun his rehab and will opt to avoid the surgical route, for now. All things considered, this is a sigh of relief for both Shamet and the Knicks after it initially looked as though he suffered a dislocation of his shoulder against the Orlando Magic on Saturday.
Shamet suffered a shoulder dislocation during the preseason last year and opted to rehab the shoulder instead of undergoing surgery. He missed two months before returning.
Nevertheless, losing Shamet is a tough blow in the short term for the Knicks. He had grown into a very impactful rotation piece with his tenacious on-ball defense and marksman three-point shooting.
He has made six starts this season and is averaging 9.3 points per game on 42.4% shooting from beyond the arc. They are already without OG Anunoby due to a hamstring strain, so now they are without two of their most impactful players for now.
Knicks will have to move forward without Shamet
In the meantime, Miles McBride will likely take over in the starting five in his absence. Additionally, Tyler Kolek and/or Mohamed Diawara could see serious action in the rotation, with them now being much thinner in the wing department.
The Knicks couldn’t afford to lose Shamet for the rest of the season, as that would have raised questions about whether or not they would have to waive him. Luckily, it appears that they have avoided the worst-case scenario with his outlook and hope to have him back on the court soon.
Shamet signed a one-year non-guaranteed deal with New York before training camp, which the Knicks then converted into a standard deal. His contract officially becomes guaranteed in January.
New York will play their second game without Shamet on Wednesday against the Charlotte Hornets.