The New York Knicks are a popular sleeper pick this season to sneak into the playoffs in the Eastern Conference (they even have Charles Barkley thinking they will make it,) but obviously health is a huge factor. After Carmelo Anthony the Knicks don't have very many scoring options and the player that is expected to be the second best option is Arron Afflalo. Afflalo is currently dealing with a hamstring injury which could reportedly sideline him for two weeks, according to Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News.
Afflalo has been dealing with the hamstring injury all offseason but it hasn't gotten better like they had hoped. An MRI revealed that Afflalo has a mild strain in the left hamstring and he did not practice on Monday which means that it is highly unlikely that he will play when the Knicks open up their season on Wednesday against the Milwaukee Bucks.
The best guess is that Afflalo will take the cautious route with this injury and wait until he is 100 percent healthy before returning as hamstrings are tricky injuries that could linger. The 30 year old guard is officially listed as day-to-day but he is expected to be out at least two weeks.
With Afflalo out the Knicks will be leaning heavily on their superstar Anthony and other players will have to step up to be the second and third scoring option. The Knicks already said they want to get Robin Lopez more involved on offense but he isn't much of a scorer, Kristaps Porzingis is a rookie who may not be ready to handle being the second option yet and Jose Calderon is coming off a bad season.
Sasha Vujacic is expected to start in Afflalo's place for as long as he is out but he too is not much of a scoring threat. Vujacic can shoot the ball but he is not going to create his own shot. Langston Galloway is another option at shooting guard and he is probably the best bet to be able to score for the Knicks as he showed he could do it last season.
Overall the Knicks roster is much improved this season but they still have their flaws and the major one is their lack of shot creators. With Afflalo out Anthony will be carrying an extremely big load and they will really need a couple of guys to step up. If the Knicks are going to make their way into the playoffs this season Afflalo must be healthy and scoring consistently sooner rather than later.
