The New York Knicks have dealt with several tough injuries over the past year, ranging from Mitchell Robinson's first of two ankle surgeries last season to OG Anunoby's hamstring injury in the 2024 playoffs. Unfortunately, last season's poor injury luck carried over to the beginning of 2024-25, as Precious Achiuwa and Landry Shamet got hurt during the preseason.
Achiuwa strained his hamstring and made his regular-season debut two weeks ago. Shamet's injury was more serious — he dislocated his shoulder. Knicks fans know how tricky dislocated shoulders can be, especially after one ended Julius Randle's season early in 2023-24.
Shamet signed a non-guaranteed deal with New York over the offseason. He was on his way to securing one of the team's final roster spots before he got injured. The Knicks waived him but found a way for Shamet to rehab with the organization. Westchester selected Shamet in the G League draft.
Before last week's NBA Cup game against the Hawks, Tom Thibodeau said Shamet was taking contact and getting closer to returning. Five days later, the guard made his Westchester debut.
Landry Shamet plays for first time since dislocating his shoulder
On Monday, the Knicks' G League affiliate hosted the Greensboro Swarm. Shamet came off the bench and immediately scored five points. He finished with 10 points, three rebounds, and one assist.
Welcome to Westchester Landry Shamet! 🎯
— NBA G League (@nbagleague) December 17, 2024
The NBA Veteran makes his season debut with the @wcknicks and scores 5 quick points on https://t.co/fLGfbO13fw pic.twitter.com/HFbIIxAydA
It shouldn't be long until Shamet makes his Knicks regular-season debut, as the team is expected to re-sign him. He's not the backup center New York needs, but he'll help with the Knicks' abysmal scoring off the bench.
New York's bench averages a league-worst 20.4 points per game. The second unit shoots 44.9% from the field, putting them in the middle of the league. They average a league-low 8.8 three-point attempts per game but have the second-highest three-point percentage, 40.4%.
Shamet won't fix all of the Knicks' issues by any means, but he'll provide some much-needed scoring off the bench. It'd be naive to think Shamet will come close to matching Donte DiVincenzo's production last season, especially coming off an injury, but he is a career 38.4% three-point shooter.
Hopefully, Shamet doesn't experience any setbacks, and will be knocking down threes at MSG soon.