IT’S MADISON SCARE GARDEN
Darkness sets in as Knicks face new reality
Reality hit the Knicks hard Wednesday.
Less than 24 hours after Kristaps Porzingis, their franchise player and leading scorer, went down with a season-ending torn ACL in his left knee, the Knicks returned to practice in Westchester, scrambling to find a new way forward, searching for solutions to an impossible problem, wondering how they will replace their 22-year-old, 7-foot-3 Unicorn who was selected to his first All-Star game just two weeks ago.
“What are we going to do without KP now?” Courtney Lee said. “It’s really sinking in.”
To answer Lee’s question, the Knicks are going to lose. A lot. That much is unavoidable.
The more pressing questions that don’t yet have definitive answers are these: When will Porzingis be ready to return to the court next season? And will he ever return to the same level he showcased over the first four months of this season?
General manager Scott Perry addressed the media Wednesday and provided little clarity.
Perry said Porzingis will undergo surgery “sooner rather than later” but would not put a timetable on when exactly the operation will occur or how long the recovery process will take.
“Every person’s a little different in how they come back and respond,” Perry said. “I know he will attack it in an aggressive manner, but we want to obviously make sure that he is fully healthy before we put him back on the court.”
Clearly, the Knicks will err on the side of caution when it comes to Porzingis’ rehab, which means fans are unlikely to see the Latvian back in game action before 2019. Perry dodged a question about his concern level for next season.
“We’ve got tremendous confidence in our medical group here that he’s going to make more than a full recovery,” Perry said. “Whenever that time is when he’s back on the court, we expect him to be back at full strength and better than ever. And that was our message to him and that’s his message to us. So I think he’s entering this thing with the right mentality.”
Porzingis is eligible for a five-year, $150 million contract extension this summer, which only adds more drama to his situation. Perry and team president Steve Mills must decide if they’re willing to give that kind of money to an injury-prone player coming off a devastating setback.
“We hadn’t talked about that prior to this injury and we won’t get into that now about him,” Perry said, when asked if the ACL tear affects his approach to Porzingis’ potential extension. “He is obviously a very important member of this basketball team and this organization and a part of this New York community. And we’ll deal with that at the appropriate time.”
Before his media appearance Wednesday, Perry dealt center Willy Hernangomez — Porzingis’ close friend — to the Hornets for two second-round picks. Perry said Porzingis’ injury had “no connection” to his decision to trade Hernangomez.
Perry also stated that losing Porzingis has not altered his approach to Thursday’s trade deadline.
“Like I’ve said from the very beginning, we’re going to do things here and be open to receiving calls to make deals that we feel are going to improve this basketball team,” said Perry. “Obviously, it’s a setback for this current year’s team, but our expectations are still the same for the group that’s in that locker room. …We want to compete every night. We want to continue to fight.”
Porzingis returned to the Garden on Tuesday night, after he’d undergone the MRI that revealed the torn ACL. Jeff Hornacek exchanged words with his star.
“Obviously he was devastated,” Hornacek said. “So are we.”
Lee crossed paths with Porzingis in the training room.
“He was down when he first got the news,” Lee said. “But then he instantly switched to, ‘I’ve got to take on this new journey. I’m ready for it.’”
Added Hornacek: “He’s a kid who’s resilient. He’s going to bounce back.”