The Knicks are getting healthier.
Forward-center Precious Achiuwa returned Thursday from the left hamstring injury he suffered during the preseason, adding much-needed depth to the Knicks’ second unit.
The Knicks made Achiuwa active for Thursday’s game against the Charlotte Hornets at Madison Square Garden after he went through his pregame warmups.
“His strengths are he can play multiple positions, gives you a little more switching ability, and then obviously offensively, the offensive rebounding and playing out of the pocket, running the floor,” Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau said before the game.
“Just get him going again, but it’s great to have him back.”
The Knicks added Achiuwa, 25, last December in the trade that brought forward OG Anunoby over from the Toronto Raptors.
Achiuwa quickly emerged as a valuable rotation player, using a high motor and physical playing style to average 7.6 points and 7.2 rebounds in 24.2 minutes per game in 49 appearances, including 18 starts, with the Knicks.
He was one of the few healthy Knicks remaining by the end of their second-round playoff series loss to the Indiana Pacers. He started two games last postseason.
The Knicks re-signed Achiuwa in the offseason to a one-year, $6 million contract, shortly after center Isaiah Hartenstein left in free agency for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Achiuwa returns as a reserve behind Anunoby at power forward and Karl-Anthony Towns at center. Fellow center Mitchell Robinson remains out after undergoing surgery on his left ankle in May.
In Achiuwa’s 21-game absence, Towns averaged 33.5 minutes per game, with Jericho Sims operating as his primary backup and rookie Ariel Hukporti also mixing in. Sims entered Thursday averaging 2.0 points and 4.2 rebounds in 13.7 minutes per game.
Achiuwa appeared in all five of the Knicks’ preseason games this year, averaging 9.4 points and 7.2 rebounds in 24.6 minutes per game.