New York Knicks: Kristaps Porzingis unlikely to return this season

New York Knicks star Kristaps Porzingis will be re-evaluated in February. Unfortunately for the Knicks, that likely means he won’t return this season.

The New York Knicks have announced that Kristaps Porzingis will be re-evaluated in mid-February. Porzingis has been out since last February with a torn ACL.

Earlier this month, Porzingis was evaluated by the Knicks medical staff, which confirmed his knee is healing well.

Porzingis recently did a workout with a coach on the court.

Knicks president Steve Mills said that the team is happy with Porzingis’s progress, per Ian Begley of ESPN:

"“We’re happy he’s been able to progress to a point where now we can start to [get] him involved with our coaches out on the floor, so that’s a step in the right direction,” Mills said Friday. “We feel good about the progress, but we’re still a ways away and we’ll have to do another re-evaluation exactly where he is in mid-February.”"

Despite “The Unicorn’s” progress, there is still no timetable for when he will return.

Mills said that Porzingis and the team will decide when he returns.

Here’s what Mills told reporters about KP’s return, via Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press:

"“The most important thing for us is to have Kristaps on the court when he feels comfortable being on the court and we feel comfortable that he should be out there. That’s more important than any timetable this season, some point in the summer. The most important thing is that we know that we’ve got this guy in a place that he feels comfortable on the floor and we feel comfortable in his ability to be part of what we’re doing long term. That’s more important than anything else that we can lay out.”"

The Knicks would love to see Porzingis play this season.

However, they see KP as an important part of the team’s future and won’t take any risks with him playing if he’s not completely ready to play, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post.

That means that Porzingis is unlikely return this season based on the writing on the wall here.

The Knicks don’t want him to get injured again, so they shouldn’t risk it by having him play.

Even if Porzingis says he’s ready and wants to play, the Knicks probably won’t let him play as a safety precaution.

The Knicks could use Porzingis since they are struggling as they are now 9-25.

Porzingis returning would have been a great Christmas present for Knicks fans.

Unfortunately, he won’t be re-evaluated until February which means it does not make sense for him to play again until next season.