The Knicks' roster is in a limbo after the Kristaps Porzingis trade.
Upon Thursday's blockbuster trade with the Mavericks that also sent Tim Hardaway Jr. Courtney Lee and Trey Burke to Dallas, the players the Knicks received -- Dennis Smith Jr., DeAndre Jordan and Wes Matthews -- won't be cleared and in New York in time for Friday's game against the Celtics.
And considering Emmanuel Mudiay is dealing with a shoulder injury and Frank Ntilikina suffered a groin injury, who actually will play for the Knicks?
Hardaway and Burke were two of the Knicks' five starters in Wednesday's 114-90 loss to the Mavericks. Without them, head coach David Fizdale will need to be creative with his backcourt against Boston.
Unless they recall someone else from the G League, they will have three guards to choose from: Allonzo Trier, Damyean Dotson and Kadeem Allen, who has logged 18 minutes in each of New York's last two games since being recalled from Westchester.
Fizdale may also have to deploy a bigger lineup against the Celtics. Kevin Knox will surely start, and Fizdale has had Lance Thomas and Noah Vonleh start each of the last five games.
Off the bench, well, the Knicks don't have many options. There's Mario Hezonja, Mitchell Robinson and Enes Kanter ... and that's it.
All that said, the Knicks will probably have a nine-man rotation until Smith, Jordan and Matthews are cleared by the league.
Fizdale has experimented with 14 different starting lineups this season. Considering he has been a major proponent of giving his younger players more playing time in an effort to evaluate his team's future, he'll have a chance to see what he can work with on Friday.