Knicks to start season without key frontcourt contributor

Knicks reserve power forward/center Precious Achiuwa has strained his left hamstring, and will be shelved for two to four weeks, the team announced Sunday. At that point, the 6’8″ big man will have the ailment reassessed.

This is a big blow for New York’s frontcourt depth, compounding the health issues the team was already facing in that department to kick off its 2024-25 season. New York was already going to be without well-compensated backup center Mitchell Robinson until at least January.

Losing Robinson and now Achiuwa means the Knicks will have to lean on deeper-bench options behind All-Star starting five Karl-Anthony Towns, with Jericho Sims seemingly the likeliest player to benefit from a major minutes uptick. 7-foot rookie center Ariel Hukporti, the No. 58 pick in this year’s draft, could conceivably get a look.

As James L. Edwards of The Athletic notes, the Knicks’ bench will be exceedingly green to start the year. Only three reserve New York players have prior NBA playing experience.

New York first acquired Achiuwa as part of its trade for presumptive small ball starting power forward OG Anunoby midway through 2023-24. He proved his mettle as a talented two-way presence in the paint for a 50-win Knicks squad. Across his 49 contests with the Knicks (18 starts), Achiuwa posted encouraging averages of 7.6 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 1.1 APG, 1.1 BPG and 0.6 SPG.

The Memphis alum earned a one-year, $6M deal to stick with New York as a free agent this summer.

New York’s starting unit of Towns, Anunoby, All-NBA point guard Jalen Brunson, 3-and-D shooting guard Josh Hart and newly-acquired All-Defensive Team small forward Mikal Bridges is shaping up to be one of the most fearsome in the entire league. With these health issues already emerging, it remains to be seen how head coach Tom Thibodeau will balance leaning heavily on his starters for early wins with the team’s bigger postseason aspirations.