SAN FRANCISCO — Landry Shamet “worked his tail off.” Now he’s back in the rotation following a nasty shoulder injury that derailed a breakout second season in New York.
The Knicks lost Shamet to a significant right shoulder sprain on a brutal mid-court screen set by Orlando’s Wendell Carter Jr. in the first quarter of a Nov. 22 road loss to the Magic. But he practiced with the Knicks at Sacramento State University’s Hornet Athletic Center on Tuesday and sat out the first leg of New York’s road back-to-back — a disappointing loss to the Kings.
The Knicks then bumped their reserve sharpshooter up to available to play against the Golden State Warriors on Thursday.
“Landry, he’s a worker, man,” head coach Mike Brown said ahead of tipoff on Thursday. “I wasn’t there then whole time watching him [rehab] or getting reports on him, but when I did see him, he was getting after it. It means a lot for him to play.”
Shamet’s return couldn’t have come at a better time: The Knicks were reeling entering the Warriors game as losers of six of their last eight games. Compounding matters, Jalen Brunson missed the Warriors matchup after sustaining a right ankle sprain five minutes into the first quarter in Sacramento.
The Knicks can’t replace everything their All-Star point guard brings to the lineup, but getting their reserve sharpshooter and three-and-D wing back softens the blow.
He played 15 games, and started in six, through the first portion of the Knicks’ season and averaged 9.3 points on 45% shooting from the field and 42.4% shooting from deep to start the year. Those numbers marked his highest-scoring season since 2021 with the Brooklyn Nets, and the second-best three-point shooting season of his career since 2019.
Brown said the Knicks are going to be “patient” as Shamet, 28, returns to form. He injured the same right, shooting shoulder that he dislocated during the preseason last year and stepped back onto the court on Thursday for the first time in nearly two months.
“He was in a great rhythm before he got hurt, and he’s been out for a while, so it’s gonna take some time for him to get back and it’s exciting for him to be back,” he said. “We’re gonna be patient with him while he’s fighting his way back to where he was before the injury.”
A-PLUS
Brown said rookie Mohamed Diawara has passed a number of tests as a rookie second-round pick who’s been thrust into the fire on a veteran team with championship expectations.
“Any opportunity you get, you throw him out there, and sometimes you might throw him out there for 15 minutes and sometimes you might throw him out there for two minutes, and you just kinda watch and see how he responds to it. And there may be stretches where he doesn’t see the floor at all, and you see how present he stays with it, and then the times that you do throw him out there, does he get shook or is he rattled?” the Knicks’ coach said pregame on Thursday. “Mo, for a young guy especially a second-round pick that probably wasn’t expecting to play at all this year, he passed a lot of tests. He’s gonna continue to be thrown into the fire from time to time.
“But he’s young, he’s growing, he’s learning, there’s no need to rush him, so he’s gotta stay patient while growing with every experience that he gets when he gets on the floor.”
The Knicks selected Diawara with the 51st pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. He has shot 12-of-30 (40%) from downtown and is averaging 12.8 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.8 steals and 0.9 blocks per 36 minutes this season.
DRAYMOND COACHING?
Warriors star Draymond Green expressed an interest in coaching when his playing career is over. Brown believed Green can serve in any capacity for a basketball organization.
“One thing: He’s extremely intelligent. His feel for the game is second to none. I’ve been around a lot of players and he’s gotta be up there Top-3 in terms of basketball IQ because he’s been doing it at a high level, has got a great feel, and has had success at it,” said Brown. “He’s won. It wouldn’t surprise me if he transitioned into coaching, front office, whatever, because I think he’d be able to impact the game in a positive way.”
