Knicks’ Jalen Brunson, Bojan Bogdanovic undergo surgery

Brunson suffered his hand injury during the final game of the Knicks’ postseason run in New York on Sunday. He was forced out of the Game 7 loss to Indiana early as a result of the fracture. 

While Wednesday’s announcement doesn’t provide any specifics on Brunson’s recovery timeline beyond the six-to-eight-week reevaluation, he’ll presumably be good to go for training camp in the fall.

The star guard had his best season as a pro in 2023-24, averaging a career-high 28.7 points and 6.7 assists per game on .479/.401/.847 shooting in 77 starts (35.4 MPG). 

He finished fifth in MVP voting and will be extension-eligible this offseason. According to Steve Popper of Newsday, “all indications” are that Brunson will be open to signing a new four-year, $156M deal with the Knicks this summer rather than putting it off in the hopes of maximizing his earnings.

As for Bogdanovic, this is the second time he has gone under the knife since his season ended on April 28. The Knicks confirmed on April 30 that the 35-year-old was undergoing surgery on his injured left foot, announcing at that time that he’d be reevaluated in three months. That suggests the recovery timeline for his foot will extend beyond the one for his wrist procedure.

After averaging 20.2 points per game on .468/.415/.779 shooting in 28 appearances for the Pistons earlier in the season, Bogdanovic saw his production drop off as a Knick. He averaged just 10.4 PPG with a .430/.370/.800 shooting line in 29 games for New York and didn’t make a significant impact in the playoffs, making 7-of-24 shots (29.2 percent) in a limited role during the first four games of the team’s first-round series vs. Philadelphia.

Bogdanovic is under contract for one more season, but his $19M salary for 2024-25 is only partially guaranteed for $2M, so the Knicks will have a decision to make on him by June 28. His salary would become fully guaranteed if he remains under contract beyond that date.