All-Star point guard Jalen Brunson has undergone surgery on his fractured left hand and veteran forward Bojan Bogdanovic has undergone surgery to address a left wrist injury, the Knicks announced on Wednesday. According to the team, both players will be reevaluated in approximately six-to-eight weeks.
Brunson suffered his hand injury during the final game of the Knicks’ postseason run in the ‘Big Apple’, New York on Sunday. He was forced out of the Game 7, 130-109 loss to the Indiana Pacers early as a result of the fracture.
While today’s announcement does not provide any specifics or clarity on Brunson’s recovery timeline beyond the six-to-eight-week reevaluation, he will most likely be ready to participate fully in 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 rounded out the top five 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.
Embed from Getty Imageswindow.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:’FxbKYwwIQIhgRjkUrDWOdQ’,sig:’wdzdD-4oWaGZQj2UIGdtRMUtz49r2KbOm2CEuOjj1Q8=’,w:’594px’,h:’460px’,items:’1247558271′,caption: true ,tld:’com’,is360: false })});This is not Bogdanovic’s first rodeo. It 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 would 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 Detroit Pistons earlier in the season, Bogdanovic saw his production tail off significantly as a Knick. He averaged just 10.4 PPG with a .430/.370/.800 shooting line in 29 games for New York and did not make a meaningful impact in the playoffs, knocking down 7-of-24 shots (29.2%) in a limited role during the first four games of the team’s first-round series against the Philadelphia 76ers.
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 vital decision to make on him by June 28. His salary would become fully guaranteed if he remains under contract beyond that date.
The Knicks were decimated by injuries. Julius Randle had season-ending surgery after dislocating his shoulder in January, and Mitchell Robinson had surgery on his ankle during the playoffs.
