Report: Knicks bringing in EuroLeague star ahead of playoff matchup with Hawks

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Orel Dizon

2 years ago

The New York Knicks are one of the league’s most surprising stories this season.

They are playoff-bound after seven straight seasons of missing the postseason. To potentially help the team’s playoff run, the front office is bringing in reinforcement from the EuroLeague.

“Knicks guard Luca Vildoza is expected to be in the United States on Friday, league sources confirm,” wrote NBA insider Ian Begley. “Once Vildoza arrives, he will need to undergo six days of COVID-19 testing as part of NBA’s protocols before he can be around members of the Knicks organization. If Vildoza, a EuroLeague standout, arrives on Friday and begins testing on Saturday, he could be cleared by next Friday.”

The Argentinian combo guard last played for Kirolbet Baskonia in the EuroLeague in 2021.

Vildoza is eligible to suit up in a playoff game for New York. But it seems Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau is not inclined to play him this postseason.

Even so, the 6-foot-2 guard could still prove to be serviceable by helping out the team in practice. He could also serve as insurance in case a Knicks player suffers an injury or become unavailable because of the NBA’s COVID-19 protocols.

Orel Dizon

Orel's passion for sports stems from following Michael Jordan’s last title runs with the Chicago Bulls and his namesake Orel Hershiser’s Cleveland Indians tenure in the late 1990s.