The New York Knicks are allowing players to come back to New York for voluntary player workouts.
As the rest of New York slowly re-opens amid the coronavirus pandemic, the New York Knicks announced on Friday that they have re-opened MSG Training Center for voluntary player workouts.
The Knicks become the 25th team to allow players back to training facilities, with the Celtics, Pistons, Wizards, Spurs, and Warriors the only remaining teams yet to reopen.
"“The Knicks re-opened the MSG Training Center today for voluntary player workouts,” said the statement released by the Knicks. “As the safety of our players and staff remains our priority, we will continue to follow the guidelines established by the State of New York and the NBA.”"
While most Knicks players have left New York during the shutdown, forward Taj Gibson has remained in the area, and Mitchell Robinson recently posted on his Instagram account that he is back in White Plains.
New York Knicks unlikely to return to play when NBA season resumes.
The NBA Board of Governors met on Friday to discuss various scenarios for resuming the 2019-20 season. Right now, there are reportedly four options being considered, with the number of teams invited to participate ranging from the 16 clubs currently in the playoffs to all 30 NBA teams.
Sources: The NBA discussed four competition scenarios for restart with Board of Governors today:
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 29, 2020
- 16 teams: Directly to playoffs
- 20: Group/stage play
- 22: Games to determine seeding, play-in tournament for final seed(s)
- 30: 72-game regular season, with play-in tourney
Among the four plans being discussed, one option would invite teams within six games of a playoff spot to complete the regular season and enter into a play-in tournament. However, that would still leave the Knicks on the outside looking in.
Among the four plans discussed on the Board of Governors call today was one in which teams that are within six games of a playoff spot would be invited to compete in regular season games, then a play-in tourney for the final playoff spots, sources told ESPN.
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) May 29, 2020
New York is currently 9.5 games back of the 8th and final playoff spot. They have the sixth best lottery odds for the upcoming NBA Draft, which would seem to be their top priority at this point, along with hiring a permanent head coach.
The New York Post reports it is a “long shot” the Knicks return to play.
While it is prudent to limit travel for teams completely out of the playoff picture, there is an argument to be made for allowing all 30 teams to return to action so they can gain the opportunity to play some basketball; otherwise, it could be a full 8 months before they play again as a team.
That said, I wouldn’t expect the Knicks to play together in a competitive environment this season. But we will wait and see. The NBA has set July 31 as a target date to resume the season, according to The Athletic.