Veteran Knicks Guard Landy Shamet Suffers Major Injury, Out Indefinitely

During a Tuesday preseason battle with the Charlotte Hornets, New York Knicks shooting guard Landry Shamet incurred a serious ailment just ahead of what could be the team’s most exciting season in decades.

Per the Knicks’ own PR team, the 6-foot-4 swingman has suffered a dislocated right shoulder. He is set to be “re-evaluated at a later date,” meaning he’s essentially out indefinitely.

Ian Begley of SNY.tv reports that New York will keep assessing the shoulder, but the club is hopeful he will be able to stave off surgery.

The Knicks had hoped Shamet would serve as a pretty critical wing option for New York. The club’s monumental trade to acquire four-time All-Star center/power forward Karl-Anthony Towns came at the cost of significant depth, as the Knicks had to throw in reserve guard Donte DiVincenzo to get the deal done.

Read more: NBA Executives Think Knicks Lost Blockbuster 3-Team Karl-Anthony Towns Trade

Shamet is currently inked to a non-guaranteed, one-year veteran’s minimum contract with some Exhibit 9 language, meaning New York will only owe $15,000 towards his injury-related maintenance should the team cut him. Just 12 Knicks players are signed to guaranteed deals heading into this year.

New York is just a hair below the league’s punitive $188.93 million second tax apron, which essentially functions as a hard cap and limits the kinds of deals taxed-out teams can make. Thus, keeping some of its money allocated to a player on a minimum deal who could miss major time could prove especially taxing for the Knicks.

The Athletic’s James L. Edwards III parses the language of the Knicks statement, noting that the “later date” timeline seems to suggest New York is happy to wait — at least a bit.

NBA squads can only have fewer than 14 players rostered during the regular season for up to two weeks at a time. One option for New York could be cutting Shamet now with the intention of picking him up after he recuperates.

Shamet, 27, was first selected with the No. 26 pick out of Wichita State in the 2018 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers. He has emerged as essentially a low-rent 3-and-D wing, for multiple playoff squads over the years, including the Sixers, the L.A. Clippers, the Brooklyn Nets (pre-Hall of Famer trades), the Phoenix Suns, and most recently the Washington Wizards.

Across 348 career regular season contests (97 starts), Shamet boasts averages of 8.7 points on .408/.384/.840 shooting splits, 1.7 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 0.5 steals a night.

New York is hoping to follow up a largely successful 2023-24 season by moving up a rung or two in the Eastern Conference pecking order this year. The Knicks finished with the conference’s No. 2 seed and a 50-32 record but were waylaid by injuries and fell to the No. 6-seeded Indiana Pacers in an East Semifinals meeting.

Team president Leon Rose responded by offloading significant equity to acquire All-Defensive Team swingman Mikal Bridges from the Brooklyn Nets and then followed that up with a late-offseason trade for Towns that cost the club another pick and major bench depth.

Still, New York’s projected starting five of All-NBA Second Team point guard Jalen Brunson, two-way shooting guard Josh Hart, Bridges, OG Anunoby, and Towns numbers among the best in the league — provided everyone stays healthy this year. Players like Shamet need to pop off the bench to help the Knicks survive until the playoffs.

More news: Knicks Star Out for Rest of 2024 with Major Injury

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