Jalen Brunson’s Grade 1 right ankle sprain isn’t going to sideline him for very long. In fact, he’s all but guaranteed to return during the New York Knicks’ current road trip.
Though the team has already ruled out its captain for Monday’s tilt against the Miami Heat, he is traveling for the five-games-in-total jaunt away from Madison Square Garden, according to the New York Post’s Jared Schwartz. JB may be the consummate leader, but this isn’t a trip he makes if the Knicks and himself aren’t expecting him to return.
Not only that, but when looking at the actual schedule, we can narrow down the timeline for his return even further.
Jalen Brunson is going to return in one of the Knicks’ next three games
Here is a quick snapshot of the Knicks’ five-game road trip:
- Monday, November 17: at Miami
- Wednesday, November 19: at Dallas
- Saturday, November 22: at Orlando
- Monday, November 24: at Brooklyn
- Wednesday, November 26: at Charlotte
New York’s game against the Brooklyn Nets stands out. Brunson would not be schlepping with the squad to Miami, Dallas, and Orlando just to make his return versus the Knicks’ crosstown rival. He’s almost definitely rejoining the lineup before then.
Since we know the Heat game is already a no-go, this leaves dates with the Dallas Mavericks, and the Orlando Magic. It doesn’t take Sherlock Holmes-level deduction to figure out which game Brunson will be aiming for: It’s the visit to Dallas, and it’s not even close.
Sure, the rivalry with the Mavs loses a little juice now that the new primary people in charge when Brunson left, Mark Cuban and Nico Harrison, are no longer faces of the franchise. (With that said, Knicks fans owe degrees of thanks to both dudes.) But JB still spent the first four seasons of his career in Big D.
Dallas is where his star first started ascending. Even if his time there did not end well, there will be an emotional component involved. He’ll want to play. And hey, he just might!
The Knicks get to breathe a sigh of relief
This is all a roundabout way of saying the Knicks have essentially confirmed Brunson will be ready to rock by Saturday’s game in Orlando at the absolute latest. Bookmark this page if you don’t believe it. The real surprise will be if he’s out past that matchup.
New York can now exhale accordingly.
With OG Anunoby slated to miss a few weeks, Mitchell Robinson forever having his workload managed, and the offense far from a sure thing without its best and only floor general, Brunson’s imminent return comes as much-needed good news. New York has enough offensive firepower to weather shorthanded pockets, but we do not yet know whether it’s deep enough to survive an extended stretch without two of its four most important players.
Luckily for the Knicks, it doesn’t sound like they’ll have to find out what that’s like—not yet, anyway.