Short-handed Knicks get bad injury news about rookie center

Hukporti had just begun to get rotation minutes for the Knicks this month. In his first start, he scored eight points and gathered two rebounds before appearing to injure himself after a block, an offensive rebound and a putback early in the third quarter.

The 22-year-old German was the final pick in the 2024 NBA draft after spending three seasons with Melbourne United. Hukporti was still raw, but provided solid defense and a lot of energy for the Knicks' second unit this year. Jericho Sims became expendable at the trade deadline as Hukporti played his way into coach Tom Thibodeau's bench lineups.

Now, with a torn meniscus, he's expected to be out four to six weeks, which would mean he's likely out through the end of the regular season. Given the recent history of meniscus tears, from Joel Embiid to Lonzo Ball, the Knicks can't count on having Hukporti until next season, even if they make a playoff run.

Bad news for Hukporti came just after the Knicks got encouraging news about a different center. Mitchell Robinson could be back for Friday night's game against the Memphis Grizzlies.

Robinson hasn't played all season after undergoing offseason surgery for an ankle injury suffered in the first round of last year's playoffs, coinciding with a highly unsportsmanlike play from Joel Embiid.

Now Robinson is finally back, at the point where the Knicks depth chart at center is down to Precious Achiuwa, as Karl-Anthony Towns deals with knee soreness. He'll likely be on a minutes limit, which means the 6-foot-8 Achiuwa will be the Knicks' rim protector.

When healthy, Robinson has been one of the NBA's best shot-blockers. But he's been rarely healthy, missing 24 games in 2022-23, 51 games last season and all 58 Knicks games this season.

Still, his return gives the Knicks much more flexibility, especially facing Eastern contenders with big frontcourt tandems, like Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley on the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo and Brook Lopez. They can play Towns and Robinson together, or go offense-first with Towns at center in a five-out lineup.

But losing Hukporti removes one nice option, just as he was finding his place on the team. The Knicks are happy to have Robinson back, but they wish they didn't have to rely on him so much right away.