New York Knicks' Kristaps Porzingis sustained a torn left ACL on February 6, which resulted in his season ending early. In a rare interview with New York Post's Larry Brooks, Knicks owner James Dolan made a concerning statement about the team's star.

Following Porzingis' ACL tear, many people put two and two together and came to the conclusion that the Knicks would shelf their 22-year-old for the rest of the season since they weren't going to be making the playoffs this year.

Many also believe that the All-Star will be back in action for New York in time for the start of the 2018-19 season, but according to the team's owner, that might not be the case. In fact, things could be even worse than that for Porzingis.

According to Dolan, the Knicks have to start building something sustainable without their franchise player, as he states he's been told that Porzingis might not return until December, and he's been told he might miss the entire season as well.

He said: "I've been told everything from December to him being out for the season, so I don't know what to expect on that. But we can't just sit on our ass while he's away. We need to develop a team and then integrate him into it when he comes back."

It's important to remember that Dolan is not a medical doctor, nor have we heard of any sort of setbacks for Porzingis, so why the Knicks owner has felt the need to share this information is unclear, especially with the team still looking for a new head coach to take over the franchise.

Knee injuries are serious business, so while the original reported timeline was at least 10 months, this isn't guaranteed since things could go wrong in the meantime. Add on top of that that it may some time for Porzingis to return to his former form once he does make a comeback on the court, and it's clear the Knicks must start to build something sustainable without their star player.

New York must make the right moves in terms of their head coach appointment, their draft, and their free agency moves in order to make sure the team is in the best shape for Porzingis' return, otherwise, there's no point in hoping he makes a return sooner than expected at all.

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