Knicks newcomers Bojan Bogdanovic, Alec Burks 'ready and prepared' to help New York starting Saturday night

The Knicks won’t have their full cast of characters on Saturday night when they take on the Indiana Pacers at Madison Square Garden, but they will have two newcomers who are ready and eager to play.

Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks, traded to New York at Thursday’s trade deadline from the Detroit Pistons for Quentin Grimes, Evan Fournier, Malachi Flynn, Ryan Arcidiacono and two future second-round picks, are with the team and due to an increasing amount of injuries and a thinning roster, both could see their fair share of minutes on Saturday.

“Super excited to be a part of one of the biggest franchises in the world… so it’s huge for me to be here,” Bogdanovic said.

The 34-year-old veteran from Bosnia and Herzegovina has played for five teams throughout his 10 seasons in the NBA so he’s no stranger to moving around. Now, he comes to New York to play under head coach Tom Thibodeau who he’s heard good things about.

“I’ve been around a lot of old-school coaches and Thibs, from what I’ve heard, is one of them,” he said. “So it won’t be a big adjustment for me. I even prefer that old-school coaching and that’s kinda a European style. So I’m looking forward to it.”

Thibodeau is surely looking forward to Bogdanovic as well and his 20.2 points per game this season on 46.8 percent shooting from the field and 41.5 percent from three – especially with a lot of his stars out and Jalen Brunson a game-time decision against the Pacers with an ankle sprain.

But Bogdanovic isn’t the only player Thibodeau will have at his disposal on Saturday as well as the rest of the season. In fact, Burks, the second player New York received in the Pistons trade, is a player Thibodeau knows well, having coached him with the Knicks not that long ago.

“I don’t know, we connect,” Burks said about his relationship with Thibodeau. “He likes how I play on the court and off the court, I like how he coaches, and we talk off the court a lot when I was here with the Knicks. He’s just a good guy.”

Burks played in New York for two seasons from 2020-2022 and averaged 12.1 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.7 assists, starting in 49 of 130 games played.

For the most part, injuries notwithstanding, he’ll come off the bench for Thibodeau and the Knicks down the stretch this season, a role he’s used to throughout his career.

Being back in New York and reuniting with some former teammates as well as joining forces with some new ones is something that excites the 32-year-old.

“Jalen, OG, just everybody. Deuce’s development, cause he was here when I was here, Julius’ development because he was a different player when I was here, just all the above, plus Thibs and the staff and that’s what’s making me very excited,” he said.

As for Saturday night, there’s no telling just how many minutes the two newcomers will play. Whatever it may be, Bogdanovic said they’ll be ready whenever their numbers are called.

“We are in game shape, we’ve been playing the whole season so we’ll see how coach is going to approach the game but we are ready to play,” he said.

That’s good news for the Knicks who are currently 33-19 and in fourth place in the Eastern Conference and doing their best to stay afloat with so many players out.

“The guys are playing well and I know we got a couple guys out but, like I said, whatever Thibs wants us to do, and I’m not sure how much we’re gonna play but we are ready and prepared,” Bogdanovic said.