FEBRUARY 14: Following a successful surgery, Baker will be in a sling for 4-6 weeks as his shoulder heals, tweets Ian Begley of ESPN. The full recovery time is about four months, which means he should be fully healthy come June, as initially reported by Marc Berman of the New York Post.
FEBRUARY 5: Knicks guard Ron Baker is scheduled to undergo an arthroscopic shoulder stabilization procedure on his right shoulder this Wednesday, the team announced today (Twitter link). The surgery will sideline Baker for the remainder of the 2017/18 season, according to the Knicks.
The Knicks had announced last week that a dislocated right shoulder and torn labrum would keep Baker out of action indefinitely, but initially avoided ruling him out for the entire season. Now that he’s set to go under the knife, the second-year guard will see his season come to an end, but he should be healthy for training camp — the Knicks said today that there will be a four-to-six month recovery period for Baker.
After being rewarded for a promising rookie season with a two-year, $8.9MM contract in the offseason, Baker struggled this year. In 29 games for the Knicks, the former Wichita State standout has averaged just 2.4 PPG and 1.6 APG, with a shooting line of .339/.333/.769.
While Baker’s $4.54MM salary for 2018/19 isn’t yet guaranteed, he has long been considered a lock to exercise his player option, and this season-ending injury should only further cement that decision.
Mills used the full mid-level exception to sign Baker….. Which left NY with only $1.5M precious cap space left. This wasn’t an insignificant signing.
Mills thought having Baker, exercise 2018 player option at $4.5M would give Knicks leverage, in contract negotiations, as that would make Baker RFA, giving them, the right of first refusal, not realizing, he was bidding against himself for a minimum salary player, making his RFA status –meaningless — Knicks will probably renounce their rights to Baker, in 2019 to save Cap Space…
Agreed, another typical Knicks mistake, even without Phil.
Baker injured and out. Best news for the Knicks this season.
Yupp. They can’t seem to catch a break. And no Phil or Melo to kick around.