Knicks forward Julius Randle dislocated his right shoulder in this afternoon’s game against Miami, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. An X-ray didn’t reveal much damage, a source tells Wojnarowski, but the team will get a better idea of his condition when an MRI is taken tonight.
Randle was injured on a drive to the basket with 4:27 left to play, according to Steve Popper of Newsday. Jaime Jaquez stepped in front of him in an attempt to draw a charge, and Randle landed awkwardly with his right arm extended. He immediately went to the training staff and was taken to the locker room.
“I don’t want to see anybody get hurt, but that’s part of the game,” coach Tom Thibodeau said in his post-game press conference (Twitter link from Knicks reporter Adam Zagoria).
Thibodeau declined to speculate on the severity of the injury, but he expressed confidence that the team’s reserves can fill in for as long as Randle is sidelined.
Randle has been one of the leaders for New York, which has won 12 of its last 14 games to rise into fourth place in the East. The veteran big man has been making a strong push for his third All-Star selection, averaging 24.1 points, 9.2 rebounds and 5.0 assists through 45 games while shooting 47.3% from the field and 30.4% from three-point range.
With 12 days remaining until the trade deadline, the Knicks may be forced to shop around the league for help at power forward if Randle’s injury is significant.
Where is Al? Thought one more call out to DeRozan is in order…8))
I agree with AL on this we should trade for Demar Derozen. With Randle possibly missing significant time we will need another scorer and Demar would fit the bill. I also would like Jordan Clarkson.
I also agree we need Demar
I have always loved his game ….
just put that out there….
DeM starting and Donte to bench. That should be elementary lol.
DeM DeR …. Drummond >>>> NYK
No.
DeMar and Drummond would be excellent pickups for the Knicks but who? And what do they trade for them without destroying the current team?
Go get Grant from Portland? Or just try to survive with Aichuwa as your starter for a few weeks? Depending on severity
NYK will add a 15th player, but I doubt the FO will be foolish enough to believe they can mitigate this via trade. In fact, it’s more likely to kill any deadline deal they may have been planning. Whatever Randle’s perceived flaws, I think the FO knows that without him, the NYK can’t win a playoff series in the East this year. Just let Achwiua play some PF, play more lineups with Anunoby at the 4 and hope Randle gets back in time to be ready for the playoffs. Only good fact is its his right shoulder.
I completely agree. I posted on the other Knicks article today about how I think they’re closer to contenders in the East than people realize yet. The Randle injury may slow the hype, but I’m kindof assuming he’ll be back for the playoffs or the second round at worst. Wouldn’t be surprised if they can win a 4-5 series again even without Randle. Brunson is 2-0 head to head against Mitchell in the first round and did it without Doncic for half the series a couple years ago.
NYK are certainly better, but so are their competitors at the top of the East, particularly PHI and CLE. We beat CLE in the 4-5 last year by physically dominating their higher pedigree big guys (Mobley and Allen), but its unclear if the two guys most responsible for that (Mitch and Randle) will even be there this year. DM was the best player in the series through 2 games, and then tried to do too much when it was clear he wasn’t going to get much help. I assume CLE will play much better than last year. I still like our chances at full strength. But without Randle? I would not be that confident.
I certainly agree that the Cavs are better with their much improved floor spacing perimeter shooters and that will probably be quite a battle if it happens again. Unless they happen to play the 76ers in the first round, I don’t foresee that as a likely playoff matchup for the Knicks. Embiid is usually some combination of worn down or just relatively struggling as the playoffs progress without the obscene amount of FTs that he’s accustomed to getting from all the phantom fouls the league gives him to boost his MVP profile in the regular season. Harden was also the only reason they were competitive with the Celtics last season so I don’t see the 76ers being improved at all from a playoff perspective going into this year despite Embiid’s continued improvement in his regular season scoring prowess – the only drama for the 76ers in the postseason is which teammates will Embiid throw under the bus this year after they don’t meet the supposed expectations again. Ultimately, I think the Knicks have a good shot against anyone in the East because the two most talented teams (Celtics and Bucks) have glaring coaching issues that tend to get magnified in the playoffs and especially because I imagine Randle would likely be back before a series against either the Celtics or Bucks and Anunoby’s very notable two-way impact that they didn’t have before has the potential to take them to another level in the playoffs – but like all the contenders contingent on having their best players healthy for the pivotal series.
You’re right. A few weeks ago, it appeared that the top 3 in the East were separating themselves from the pack. But all three have had playoff performance issues in the past years, and there’s signs recently that those issues might still be hanging around.
Achiuwa has given good mins. Thank god injury is not serious. Time to man up. This is what depth is all about.
We will know timeline after MRI. Get well Julius
I’m good with any Knicks trade at the TD that doesn’t include Grimes and Duece. Trade Fournier, Flynn, etc.
I don’t believe Flynn can be moved in an aggregated trade since he’s been traded once already this season. Grimes is the Knicks best trade asset and is worth less to the Knicks with OG now their primary defender.
You were pumped after blasting a heat team in their 3rd game in 4 nights. Enjoy the injury bug . Yes I’m fully aware my Celtics laid a huge egg tonight.
A lot of yolk not good for you
He’ll miss a game or two. Pop it back in and he’s fine. Non shooting hand, so maybe this injury will help him not turn the damn ball over too much.
DeMar and Drummond would be excellent pickups for the Knicks but who? And what do they trade for them without destroying the current team?
Can Sims play PF for the time being? Taj are you still available come back to NY