Knicks guard Austin Rivers held out of Wednesday's practice with groin injury
Austin Rivers handles the ball at Talking Stick Resort Arena on February 7, 2020 in Phoenix, Arizona. Credit: Getty Images/Christian Petersen
Austin Rivers has been limited in practice this week and Wednesday was held out as he continued to try to make his way through a groin injury — a shutdown that will almost certainly mean the Knicks will be without him Friday when they open the preseason schedule in Detroit.
"I think it puts you behind, but you also want to be smart about it," Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. "Pulls and strains I think you’ve got to be careful with. When he’s healthy and ready to go he’ll go. Right now it gives us a chance to evaluate some other guys and when he’s healthy enough he’ll get going."
Strange days
Julius Randle is the Knicks top returning scorer and one of the most experienced players on the roster. But even he admitted that this season was going to be, "weird."
"We've got a training camp. We've got a good coaching staff," he said. "They're putting the work in, they're playing hard. Go out there and play hard, play with confidence. Let the chips fall where they may. It's going to be a weird season. It's going to be a fast pace. Just play the game with confidence and play unselfish and we'll be fine."
First cut
Jacob Evans, who the Knicks obtained in a trade along with Omari Spellman, was waived. The team will still need to cut down the roster more before the start of the season. Jared Harper and Theo Pinson are currently on two-way contracts while Myles Powell and Micheal Kidd-Gilchrist are on Exhibit 10 deals. But the team is at the limit for full contracts and would need to waive another player if they want to move Kidd-Gilchrist onto the roster.
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
