Knicks News: Lance Thomas Undergoes Knee Surgery

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New York Knicks forward Lance Thomas underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee to remove loose bodies, the team announced Friday.

Thomas will be out for the foreseeable future and will be re-evaluated in four weeks.

Although he has made five starts this season, he did not appear in Wednesday's game against the Atlanta Hawks. Prior to that, he had recorded just 13 minutes combined in his two previous appearances.

Thomas is in his fourth full season in New York, with his minutes decreasing with each passing year. He is averaging 3.9 points and 2.2 rebounds in 15.2 minutes in 11 games this season.

As the New York Post's Marc Berman noted, the eighth-year veteran is the team's emotional leader. However, his lack of production has made it hard for him to see much time on the court as of late. And now the injury will keep him out of action for at least a month.

Thomas, 30, is in the third year of a four-year, $27.5 million contract he signed in 2016. He is making $7.1 million this season and has a partially guaranteed salary of $7.6 million for 2019-20, according to Spotrac.

Given Thomas had recently taken on a reduced role, the Knicks will have plenty of time to take a look at younger players. Noah Vonleh should continue to start at power forward, with Mario Hezonja also seeing a good amount of minutes.

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New York is 4-8 on the season and will take on the Eastern Conference-leading Toronto Raptors (11-1) on Saturday.