Landry Shamet has an official diagnosis with an important deadline on the horizon.
As expected, the Knicks backup guard suffered a dislocated shoulder in Tuesday’s preseason game, the Knicks announced, and he’s still “gathering information” on the options, according to Tom Thibodeau.
The big question is whether Shamet will undergo surgery, a conundrum familiar to Knicks fans who followed Julius Randle’s recovery saga from a dislocated shoulder last season.
Since Shamet is on a non-guaranteed deal, the Knicks will only be on the hook for $15,000 of his $2.6 million deal if he’s waived by Saturday at 5 p.m., a league source confirmed.
If he’s not waived, the Knicks incur a per-day charge toward the cap.
“It’s a dislocated shoulder and he’s still gathering information as to what the next steps are,” Thibodeau said. “Obviously, we feel very strongly about him and what he did. So whatever it is, whatever is in front of you — if you’re dealing with an injury, lock into that and focus on the rehab and get yourself ready to go again.”
Asked whether he expects Shamet to be on the roster for the regular season, Thibodeau said, “I don’t know what all the information is. I’m basing it on what I have at this time. It’s a dislocated shoulder. He’s still gathering information and so we’re just going from there. So he’s already attacking the rehab. And I like that. He needs more information as well.”
There are multiple options with Shamet, who was on track to be an important rotation player before the injury.
They could keep the 27-year-old on the roster until he gets healthy.
That wouldn’t make sense if he undergoes surgery, which is typically a six-month recovery from a torn labrum.
It also wouldn’t make sense if the Knicks doubt Shamet can regain full ability without surgery.
Another option is to waive Shamet and use his spot for another veteran player, whether on the current roster (TJ Warren), a current free agent (Marcus Morris, for instance) or a player who will become a free agent (Lonnie Walker IV could be waived by the Celtics before the opener for luxury-tax reasons).
The Knicks have 12 players on guaranteed contracts and need to get to 14 for the regular-season opener. Rosters for opening day are due by Oct. 21.
Randle, who was traded to the Timberwolves last month, went through a process similar to Shamet’s.
After visiting multiple doctors, he attempted to return without surgery but suffered a setback during rehab and ultimately went under the knife.
On Thursday, Shamet posted on Instagram that he’ll be “back soon.”
He wasn’t with the Knicks for Friday’s preseason game against the Wizards.
“Appreciate all of the prayers and well wishes,” Shamet wrote. “This is just the next obstacle and to be afraid of an obstacle would go against everything that I am — I welcome them. I’m attacking this rehab. Back soon.”
If Shamet is waived, veteran Cam Payne is the frontrunner to become the second guard/wing off the bench behind Miles McBride.
Rookie Tyler Kolek also has an opportunity for minutes.