The Knicks were expecting Derrick Rose to return to the lineup from his ankle injury soon, but they’ll have to wait a little longer.
The team announced on Friday that Rose will be undergoing a “minor procedure” on that same ankle.
SNY NBA Insider Ian Begley confirms that the second surgery was on a skin infection in the area of the original surgery. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski was the first to report the news, saying the new procedure will keep Rose sidelined for another one-to-two weeks.
Rose had surgery on his ankle back on Dec. 22, and the team said he would be re-evaluated in eight weeks.
Head coach Tom Thibodeau said Rose had been doing basketball activity and was gearing up for contact. Thibodeau also was hoping Rose could provide “veteran leadership” necessary late in games – the Knicks have blown three 20-plus point leads this month alone.
Since Rose’s last game on Dec. 16, the Knicks are 12-18, and have fallen to 12th place in the Eastern Conference.
Rose was averaging 12.0 points and 4.0 assists per game before the injury after averaging 19.4 points and 5.0 assists on 47.1 percent shooting from three in the Knicks’ first-round matchup against the Atlanta Hawks in last year’s playoffs.
With Rose out an extended period of time and Kemba Walker shut down for the season, Immanuel Quickley could start some games and get more minutes while Alec Burks is also a candidate.
