SNY's Ian Begley will be responding to Knicks questions from readers. Here's the latest...
Two questions: What is the latest on Brunson’s status and how serious do you think McBride’s groin injury is? - @DylanBackerESM
Jalen Brunson talked about the ankle injury on his podcast, The Roomates Show. “Just doing everything I can to get back, doing stuff two-three times a day,” he said. "Just working my way.” Brunson also described the process as "terrible" because, “sometimes when you think you’re making strides, you think you can do more, there’s something limiting you.”
It seems like the episode was filmed toward the end of last week. A few days later, head coach Tom Thibodeau said Brunson was making "really good progress" in his recovery. After the press conference, I’d heard that the rehab process was going faster than initially anticipated. Let’s assume that there haven’t been any setbacks this week.
If that’s the case, I think Brunson will be able to play in several regular season games before the postseason. This is important because it gives him some time to regain his rhythm and conditioning ahead of the first round.
New York doesn’t want him to come back unless his ankle is 100 percent healed. Based on what I heard earlier this week, things were trending toward Brunson being able to play a handful of games before the end of the regular season. He will obviously miss Friday’s game against the Bucks and Sunday’s game against the Trail Blazers. After the weekend, the Knicks will have eight games left.
I don’t have any strong intel on Miles McBride’s groin injury, other than it’s a tricky injury and Thibodeau said on Wednesday that McBride has been limited in what he can do on the court.
Is it reasonable to assume Brunson had a bad 2nd grade ankle sprain and therefore is likely going to remain somewhat hampered until the offseason? - @sol_sports
I don’t think so, for the reasons noted above. The Knicks have no interest in bringing Brunson back before he’s 100 percent healthy. I hit on this question in our video mailbag earlier this week and I don’t think anything about this stance has changed.
What are the chances Kolek gets more significant playtime (NOT garbage time)? - @yaalreadyknow
I want to note that @yaalreadyknow asked this question at the beginning of the week, before Tyler Kolek played 19 minutes in Wednesday’s loss to the Clippers. As long as Brunson, McBride, and Cam Payne remain out, Kolek will certainly get significant playing time.
Is he going to start on Friday against the Bucks? I’d think the Knicks at least consider starting veteran Delon Wright, who brings defensive versatility. Wright also brings experience -- he played rotation minutes for the Heat during the 2024 playoffs.
When does Mitch come off of minutes restriction is it for the season until the playoffs? - @J_Frm_EastNY
I don’t think there's a specific end date for Mitchell Robinson’s minutes restriction. Thibdoeau said earlier this week that there are several indicators that the medical staff takes into account for Robinson.
He didn’t discuss those factors in detail, but it’s clear that Robinson is still under restriction. He hasn’t been cleared to play in back-to-backs and his minutes haven’t been steadily increasing. He played just 13 minutes against the Clippers, but that seemed based on performance rather than a minute restriction.
With that said, there are no back-to-backs in the postseason. So, if healthy, Robinson will be able to play in every playoff game. Also, how many minutes will the Knicks need from him? Twenty or so? If that’s the case, he doesn’t need to make a big jump in minutes between now and the postseason.
Is Precious completely out of the playoff rotation? - @Benkuchipudi_24
This depends mostly on Robinson’s health, I think. Precious Achiuwa was mostly out of the rotation once Robinson returned. I assume he’ll remain out of the rotation as long as Robinson is healthy enough to play and perform well.