MULTIPLE Knicks Updates - Report Reveals MAJOR Change Coming...

We have multiple New York Knicks updates to go over today, as the Knicks are currently dealing with multiple injured players, including star player Jalen Brunson, but also one of the most important players on the team. And now Mike Brown's plans have been revealed on how the Knicks will fare without two of their most important players over the next couple of weeks, as the Knicks do deal with some injuries right now. We're going to waste no time jumping right into the video, guys, but before we do that, if you are part of that 55% that's not subscribed to Knicks Digest, make sure to subscribe so you don't miss a single New York Knicks update. We have videos coming out every single day covering the Knicks, talking about the newest updates with the team, and much more as well. So make sure you subscribe so you don't miss a Knicks update, and let's jump right into the video. There is a lot to go over. No, my hair does not usually look like this, but sometimes that's just the way it rolls. It's early in the morning. Look, guys, the Knicks right now, they are dealing with multiple injuries. We know the ones with Jalen Brunson, and then also O.G. on an O.E. went down against the Miami Heat very early on. And when he went down with that injury, there was a whole lot of fear surrounding his hamstring. As O.G. has had hamstring injuries in the past, this is stretched all the way back to his days in Toronto with the Raptors. So when you also just look at how he's dealt with that with the Knicks in 2024 in the playoffs, he went down with a hamstring injury, which was one of the real reasons why the Knicks would end up losing that series to the Indiana Pacers. A series where the Knicks easily would have went on to the conference finals had seven guys not gotten hurt. However, that's the way the wind blows. It's been way too long to still be mad about that. But with O.G. on an O.B. going down with a hamstring injury, everyone was very concerned. And a report today came out from Sham Sharania, who said New York Knicks forward O.G. on an O.B. will be reevaluating in two weeks due to a left hamstring strain. Now, Ian Begley also did say that O.G. will not be traveling on the Knicks' upcoming road trip with the team. Meaning the Knicks will be missing one of the most important players who is averaging 16 points per game, but that did drop because of how quickly he came out of the game against Miami. He was averaging around 18 points, but it did drop because he only played in five minutes before going down with the injury. He was also getting five and a half rebounds per game, two assists, getting around a block, and two steals a night as well, shooting 39% from three and 47% from the field, including 44% on the corner three. O.G. has been flourishing in this Mike Brown offense and looked like he really had a chance to make the all-star team. So obviously being reevaluated in two weeks from the hamstring injury, then having to try to bounce back is going to hurt his all-star chances a whole lot, which absolutely sucks because O.G. has been really, really good this season. Has been one of the most consistently just solid, more than solid, great players on the Knicks. And really, when we look at O.G. on an O.B., when we just look at the Knicks in general, we usually do sort of calculate or count O.G. as the third best player on this team. Is that always accurate? No, because Mikael Bridges, Mitchell Robinson, they all, a bunch of different Knicks always kind of have that chance to be the third best player behind Jalen Brunson and Carl Anthony Towns. This season, it's easily been Mitch because how great he's been, but that's not a testament to the fact, like saying O.G.'s playing bad or Mikael's playing bad. They're both having excellent seasons as well. That's more of just because Mitchell Robinson is doing unbelievable things. But O.G. has been absolutely incredible, so losing him for two weeks is going to hurt. The Knicks now lose their best defensive stopper, and though Mikael's obviously a phenomenal defender, O.G. typically guarded more of the forwards. So, the Knicks are definitely losing that right now, and that is something to be a little bit concerned about going forwards. I certainly do wonder how the Knicks' defense is going to bounce back. Their defense has been very solid this year, very good, in fact. So, it really is something that we have to look at, while also the Knicks are losing a 16-point per game score. The Knicks, without O.G., have fared okay, though. They are 19-16, without O.G. putting up 111 points per game since O.G. got traded to the Knicks in games that he has not appeared in. So, the Knicks have obviously had their fair share of games that O.G. has missed, and in that span, they have been able to hold up pretty solidly, which is good news. And fans, I mean, as typical fans go, some of them are really just overreacting, and some of them are just being very rational. I mean, one of them right here, seeing that Reward said, oh, that's clever, saying, Yabu, you've got two weeks to build your stock. It's your time. And that's a big part of things, because Gershon Yabusele, who's only averaging around 2-2 this season and has fallen out of the rotation, is going to get a lot of minutes because the Knicks will need to use another forward, and Yabusele will be that guy. So, Gershon Yabusele is going to have a huge chance. And then, also, just saying that it's next man up, look how much freely the ball is moving without J.B. and O.G. Anobi, which, yeah, the ball's moving freely without them, but it's also moved quite well with them, especially with O.G. on the floor. He's still been moving the ball well as well. And then, obviously, the more rational stuff, saying he's hurt too much, trade him or just tank and get ready for next year for some weird reason. But that also might just be trolling. So, at the end of the day, it is going to suck to be without O.G. for a little bit. He is just super, super, super important to this Knicks team, and his importance is going to continue down the line going forwards as well. So, obviously, we do want this to all work out as well as humanly possible. And, on top of that, we also do have stuff to go over on Jalen Brunson as well, who is down with that Grade 1 ankle sprain, which is the least severe injury that he possibly could have gotten when he went down. So, that was obviously good news to see that that was all his injury was. And, on top of that, with Brunson out, we know that Deuce has been in as the starter because they need another point guard, but now with O.G. out, they need another wing, they need another forward type guy. And Landry Shabbat is probably the guy who we would like to see step in here. I mean, Shabbat, when he started in the three games he's appeared in as a starter, he's put up 12.3 points, three rebounds, and getting nearly a steal per night. As well, he's been very good while shooting 42% from three and 46% from the field. Shabbat has been an absolute joy to watch this season. He's been really, really great. And, especially coming off that 36-point performance, Shabbat does deserve to start in the next game with O.G. not being there. I would like to see the lineup be Deuce McBride, Landry Shabbat, Mikhail Bridges, Carl Anthony Towns, Mitchell Robinson. And, if I had to guess, I imagine that is the exact starting lineup that we're going to see Mike Brown use. So, it's good to see that. Definitely kind of the lineup that makes the most sense right now. Yes, it is a little bit undersized, but it's really not at the same time because you have Kat and Mitch out there. When one of them is going to be on the floor, if Mitch doesn't play it because of the way the games are scheduled, then, yeah, it's going to get smaller and we would probably see Yabusele jump in there as a starter for size purposes. But, still, I do imagine that with O.G. out, Landry Shabbat will be a consistent starter for the Knicks going forwards, at least until O.G. returns. Though, also, I would not be shocked at some point if the Knicks, when Jalen Brunson comes back, and Brunson is expected to be back before O.G., that they would start to throw out a Brunson and Deuce lineup as well, just with Mikhail, Kat, and Mitchell Robinson as well, just to see how that lineup holds up. Especially to see how Jalen Brunson and Deuce McBride play together, when usually those two have been very, very good when they're on the court together. So, that's something to be aware of also. Now, regarding Brunson, SNY did say, So, good news for the Knicks on a potential timeline there. He's historically been able to grit through these types of injuries, and the daily cadence suggests that we're looking at only a week or two of missed time if things break right. And, so, with Brunson right now, it wouldn't be shocking to see him out another whole week with the Knicks. Brunson, obviously, the best player on the team, one of the best players in the NBA. Putting up 28 points per game, 3.5 rebounds, 6.5 assists, shooting 37% from three, and 47% from the field. Jalen Brunson is as good as any guard in basketball. The man has been absolutely phenomenal, was the clutch player of the year for a reason. Jalen Brunson deserves everything that he's gotten so far. And, the Knicks, obviously, when the playoffs come around, they're not going to go anywhere unless Jalen Brunson decides that, because, again, he's their captain, he's the best player on the team, you need your best player on the team healthy. Obviously, that's a super long time away, and Jalen Brunson should take his time coming back from this injury, even if it does cost the Knicks a couple games, I would rather Brunson be well-rested and healthy than a little shaken up in any means at all. Now, with all that, SNY also did mention that these injuries come just in time for New York's first extended road trip of the year, and it bounces from Miami to Dallas, Orlando, Brooklyn, and Charlotte before wrapping up the month at home against Milwaukee and Toronto. Those are five winnable road games, especially if the team plays up to the standard that it did this past Friday night against the Heat, where OG barely played and Jalen Brunson just did not play at all. Now, Shamit again has stepped up in a huge way and has been awesome this season, proving the Knicks right to bring him on over Garrison Matthews, as Shamit is this season, putting up ten points per game, two rebounds, one assist, playing some solid defense as well, and also shooting 49% from the field, 44.6% from three, 50% on the corner three, and 74% of his shots are coming from behind the arc, so he's been super efficient being that quick trigger shooter for the Knicks. He got his opportunity, and he absolutely seized it, and now he's just going to get a bigger opportunity. Clearly, Mike Brown loves Landry Shamit, and we're going to see a lot more out of him, which is going to be great to see. The Knicks without Brunson thus far throughout his Knicks career, they are 20-17 in the 37 games that he's missed. They've averaged 113 points without him, so obviously, no matter who it's been, whether it's been Julius Randle as the second-best player or Carl Anthony Towns or whoever you want to go with, because the team's changed a lot since Brunson signed here. The Knicks are in very, very good position to keep winning games, and the schedule overall is not going to be that hard. Mike Brown did say that Jalen Brunson will travel with the Knicks on their road trip, so there is definitely a world where Brunson does return on this road trip, and we're just going to go full screen and look at this real quick. Now, the Knicks road trip is interesting because what we see, I mean, the Heat again is going to be an interesting game. It will be the third time the Knicks play the Heat in a very short amount of time, especially for the start of the season. The Knicks and the Heat are playing early this season, and, well, that'll be an interesting game to see in Miami. The Knicks have been to Miami once this season, and they lost, so without Jalen Brunson, without OG, they've proven they can beat the Heat, but also Bam Adebayo was out that last Heat game. He was there when the Knicks lost the game, so that'll be an interesting storyline to follow. And then after that, we also do see that, I mean, the Dallas Mavericks, the Knicks will play them. Jalen Brunson has played in Dallas before, obviously. I wouldn't expect him to be back by Dallas. I think it's more likely that we see Brunson back in either Orlando or Brooklyn. It would be interesting if he goes up against Orlando, considering the fact that that's who he got injured against. I do imagine there's going to be some fans who say, don't play Brunson against Orlando, because they are a very gritty and physical team, and I don't disagree. I think Brunson should come back against Brooklyn, get back to New York, come on the road trip. Obviously, if he's ready to go, he's ready to go, but I just trust the Knicks arresting Brunson as much as possible. Then, on top of that, when we look at these teams, I mean, Orlando's been okay, for sure. Obviously, they were the first team to hand the Knicks a loss at home, so shout out to them for that. The Heat have been decent as well, but the Mavericks, the Brooklyn Nets, the Charlotte Hornets are all hot garbage. The Knicks should be able to win those games without Brunson or OG, without any problem. They should be able to handle Milwaukee decently well. They should be able to beat the Raptors and the Celtics and the Hornets and the Jazz and the Magic and the Pacers and the 76ers and the Heat. Then, the Timberwolves and the Cavs and the Hawks are pretty good. Basically, what I'm saying is I want the Knicks to rattle off a 13-game win streak or something, but in all honesty, the Knicks are one of the best teams in the NBA. Without Brunson and OG, they have a lot of talent. Carl Anthony Towns is an elite, elite big man, one of the best big men in the Eastern Conference. So, when we consider that, when we consider the fact that he was an all-star starter, I'm not that concerned. I do think the Knicks are going to be just fine, especially if the schedule is not that hard, even though they're going to win. What do you guys think? Let me know in the comments down below. Like this video, subscribe, turn on post notifications. Have a great day. Go Knicks!