The 2018-19 NBA season is approaching fast, and fans of the New York Knicks are still wondering if Kristaps Porzingis, who suffered an ACL tear in his left knee on Feb. 6, will be available to play at any point. Knicks president Steve Mills gave an update Thursday:
Steve Mills says there is still no timeline for Kristaps Porzingis to play this season.
— Chris Mannix (@SIChrisMannix) September 20, 2018
The Knicks will miss Porzingis if he is ruled out for the coming season. The former No. 4 overall pick made 48 appearances with New York during the 2017-18 campaign, racking up averages of 22.7 points on 43.9 percent shooting from the field (39.5 percent from beyond the arc), 6.6 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 2.4 blocks, and just under one steal (0.8) in 32.4 minutes per outing.
According to several reports, Porzingis' ACL tear was “clean,” which means it didn’t impact the surrounding cartilage and ligaments. His orthopedic surgeon, Dr. David W. Altchek, had some encouraging words to say about the injury.
“Your particular version of the injury has the best prognosis because you didn’t have any cartilage injury, any other ligament injury; none of the complicating negative factors. Which quite honestly, we usually see in NBA ACLs. So this is awesome.”
Porzingis has been working hard towards recovery, and it seems he still wants to be involved in any way he can:
Knicks president Steve Mills says Kristaps Porzingis was at the team practice facility yesterday, along with more than a dozen other Knicks who were working out.
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) September 20, 2018
To be clear, Porzingis will be re-evaluated by the medical staff this week, so we'll get another update soon. Mills wouldn't rule out Porzingis missing the entire season when asked earlier this week, saying that he's not going jeopardize his long-term future. As for a contract extension, Knicks GM Scott Perry declined to talk about it but was adamant that Porzingis is a “very important part” of New York's future.
He's still in recovery, but Knicks fans should be happy to know that Porzingis is doing everything in his power to get back to form.