Knicks Thin Bench Gets Thinner

How will NY handle the loss of Precious? (And I provide my 2024-25 Award Predictions)

As noted in Saturday's post, it appeared that Precious Achiuwa injured his left hamstring in Friday's loss to the Wizards. Unfortunately, we got confirmation on Sunday when New York announced that Achiuwa suffered a hamstring strain and would be re-evaluated in 2-4 weeks.

For a team that entered training camp with limited depth, especially up front, losing their best backup big man is an undeniably tough blow.

For what it's worth, Precious downplayed the severity of the injury during an appearance on AfroBallers IG Live Sunday. "We'll get back better, stronger. It's just a minor setback," Achiuwa said. "We still have the same agenda. Gonna come back a lot stronger…We have a goal to accomplish this year."

However, as we know, hamstring issues can be tricky and can linger if not allowed to heal completely. As a result, expect the Knicks medical staff to err on the side of caution before clearing Precious to return to action. It's probably safe to assume he'll remain sidelined for at least a month (13 games), and that's if he doesn't have any significant setbacks.

The question now is how the Knicks will handle Achiuwa's absence, both in the immediate future and a bit farther down the road.