Last year’s Knicks didn’t suffer from an injury bug so much as the plague. After losing Mitchell Robinson, Julius Randle and OG Anunoby for a majority of their post-trade deadline season, Randle re-injured himself trying to make it back for the playoffs while the rest of the team’s key pieces went down one after another.

Robinson suffered a stress injury to his left ankle that required surgery, Anunoby injured his hamstring in the second round vs. the Indiana Pacers and Jalen Brunson fractured his left hand in their losing Game 7 effort. Unfortunately, that cascade of injuries seems to be impacting this new season before it’s even begun.

According to SNY’s Ian Begley, it would be “surprising” if Randle is ready to go by the start of training camp, with his comeback likely slated for Opening Night or even in the games to follow. On top of that, as of two weeks ago, Robinson was still working through rehab, and has to “clear several hurdles” to be ready for training camp.

Though the Randle news may be alarming to some fans, it’s about what to expect. While many players returned to action within a couple of months of their original injury, Randle re-injured his separated shoulder trying to make it back for the postseason and required surgery.

In those cases, the standard recovery can be between 4-6 months. Randle’s surgery was in April, making October’s Opening Night the sixth-month mark.

Randle’s game is especially bruising and taxing on his shoulder, so the Knicks could play it especially safe with their newfound championship aspirations. There haven’t been many similar cases in recent NBA history, but Kevin Love’s similar injury and surgery in April of 2015 got him back in time to start the next season.

Robinson’s outlook is understandably weaker. Stress injuries that require surgery can commonly keep players out for up to six months, and even beyond with complications.

It was this same ankle that went under the knife in December for a stress fracture that kept Robinson out for four months. Re-injuring that ankle should, at the very least, mean a more cautious recovery for Robinson this time around, which means the Knicks could very well go into the season without their starting center.

They could have long-term concerns as well. Robinson has as many 30-games-played seasons as he does 60-games-played seasons since 2020; multiple lower-body injuries and surgeries to a big man can compound in scary ways.

The only bright spots were Brunson looking on track and Anunoby not getting a mention. Brunson’s injury occurred in May, and though standard timelines differ based on multiple unknown factors, the full three-plus months time between his injury and training camp should be enough to expect him to suit up fully healthy come the new season.

Anunoby’s hamstring strain should be well behind him now. The most severe strains can take a couple of months to heal but given he gave the Knicks a couple Game 7 buckets it was probably on the milder end and should be good to go.

With the possibility of going into the new campaign without their starting frontcourt, how can the Knicks adjust in the face of a tough opening schedule?

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