On Saturday, the Knicks were at home to face the Miami Heat. New York dominated the game and had a sizeable lead in the fourth quarter. All-star PF Julius Randle had an awkward landing on a layup attempt. He used his arm to brace the fall and came up with a grin on his face. Randle was vividly in some real pain.
That left Knicks fans holding their breath waiting to see just how bad his injury was. Randle has an MRI done on his right shoulder and NBA insider Shams Charania said he will miss a few weeks for New York. It was the best-case scenario for the Knicks with the all-star game coming up as well. The 29-year-old can use the time to rehab through the shoulder injury and be ready for the second half of the 2023-24 season.
Julius Randle will miss a few weeks for the Knicks after suffering a shoulder injury vs. Miami
Sources: Knicks star Julius Randle is expected to be sidelined for at least a few weeks with a right shoulder dislocation. Appears to be a sigh of relief for New York as initial reviews of MRI reveal no significant damage. pic.twitter.com/b4JAwMI0GJ
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 29, 2024
At this point in their season, the Knicks did not want to make any changes to what they were doing. The team is 12-2 in their last 14 games and are thriving since trading O.G. Anunoby. However, head coach Tom Thibodeau will turn to his bench for someone to start in place of Julius Randle. Before the injury on Saturday vs. the Heat, Randle had not missed a game all season for the Knicks.
That is something Randle had done in the past. He played all 82 games in the 2018-19 season when he was still with the Lakers. Additionally, he’s played at least 71 games for New York in the last three seasons. That could change in 2023-24 depending on how much time Randle does end up missing. The Knicks were lucky there was no significant damage when he had his MRI. New York is playing their best basketball of the season right now and they can’t afford to have Randle be out long-term.
Julius Randle’s shoulder injury is expected to sideline him “at least a few weeks,” per @ShamsCharania
No significant damage was found in initial reviews of the MRI
Good news for Julius and the Knicks 🙏 pic.twitter.com/sAbiRw3Piq
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) January 29, 2024
In their trade with the Raptors for O.G. Anunoby, the Knicks also acquired PF Precious Achiuwa. With their current injuries, he might be a solid replacement at PF for the time being. Tom Thibodeau could choose to play small ball and insert Josh Hart into the lineup. While he’s only six-foot-four, Hart is a solid rebounder for New York. We’ll have to wait and see what changes are made to the starting five with Julius Randle set to miss time.
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