The Knicks don't have much incentive to rush him back. At 48-27, the team is virtually locked into the No. 3 seed in the playoffs, eight games behind the 2-seed Boston Celtics and four games clear of the 4-seed Indiana Pacers with seven games left. Barring a fairly epic collapse, New York's seed is locked

Without Brunson, the Knicks did lose some games they likely should have won, but the damage was not substantial. As they gear up for the postseason, a timeline for his return was recently announced by a team insider.

New York star guard Jalen Brunson has been cleared for basketball activities and could return to the Knicks' lineup for the final week of regular season.