Knicks' OG Anunoby to miss at least 3 weeks after elbow surgery
Anunoby has missed the past five games for the Knicks due to the elbow injury
New York Knicks forward OG Anunoby will miss at least three weeks after he underwent surgery to remove a loose bone fragment in his right elbow on Thursday, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Following the “minor” procedure, Anunoby, who was traded to the Knicks in late December, is expected to resume basketball activities in three weeks. The team later confirmed the news.
If Anunoby is able to recover within that time frame, it would put him back on the court in early March.
Anunoby was dealt to the Knicks in December in a trade with the Toronto Raptors, with whom he spent the first seven years of his career. Anunoby, Malachi Flynn and Precious Achiuwa were traded to the Knicks in exchange for RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley and a future draft pick.
Anunoby has played in 14 games since arriving in New York, and he has averaged 15.6 points and 4.6 rebounds in that span. He hasn’t played since a win over the Miami Heat on Jan. 27. The Knicks had hoped that rest would have fixed Anunoby’s elbow injury, per Wojnarowski, but they eventually opted for the procedure in order to make sure he’s healthy for the final stretch of the season.
In total, Anunoby has averaged 15.3 points and 4.2 rebounds per game this season. The 26-year-old is in the third year of a four-year, $72 million deal signed with the Raptors.
The Knicks enter Thursday's game against the Dallas Mavericks with a 33-18 record, which is good for fourth in the Eastern Conference. If Anunoby can return by March 3, when the Knicks take on the Cleveland Cavaliers, he will have missed fewer than 10 games.
