Andrea Bargnani Doesn’t Know When He’ll Return from Elbow Injury

New York Knicks big man Andrea Bargnani badly hurt his elbow in the most ridiculous way, and now Bargs can’t put a finger on a possible return to action (though he says surgery has been ruled out.) He suffered a similar right-elbow injury last season with the Toronto Raptors that sidelined him for six weeks. Per the NY Post:

Andrea Bargnani, in breaking his silence, showed off his new black elbow brace, admitted his injury was “terrible’’ and said a timetable for his return from rehab is tricky because the ligament is completely torn.

But even when Bargnani does return, it appears Knicks coach Mike Woodson has moved on. Woodson said the new-old small-ball lineup is likely here to stay — which means Bargnani becomes a bench player at best. The small lineup has Carmelo Anthony at Bargnani’s position at power forward and two point guards, Raymond Felton and Pablo Prigioni. It was the unit that thrived during last season’s 54-28 gem.

“I have no idea [on a return date],’’ Bargnani said. “It’s a ligament broke and you see how it heals and how strong the arm gets. You got to make sure it’s 100 percent. I really don’t know the timeline.’’

“It’s terrible, just terrible but what can you do,’’ said Bargnani, who was the Knick second-leading scorer at 13.7 points. “Because it’s similar to last year, it’s even more frustrating. It’s terrible sitting out — the worst.’’