GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- Amar'e Stoudemire will not play in the Knicks' first three preseason games, head coach Mike Woodson said.
The Knicks are taking a cautious approach with Stoudemire in the preseason, so his absence doesn't come as a surprise.
Woodson said Stoudemire and injured teammates J.R. Smith and Jeremy Tyler will not travel with the Knicks on their three-game road trip to open the preseason.
New York's first preseason game is on Wednesday against the Celtics in Providence, Rhode Island.
Stoudemire hasn't been scrimmaging with his teammates. Woodson said on Sunday that he hadn't started running on the court yet.
Stoudemire underwent a procedure to repair his injured knee over the summer. It was the third knee surgery for Stoudemire, 30, in the last 12 months.
The 11-year veteran played in just 29 regular-season games last year due to recurring knee issues. He underwent arthroscopic surgery on both knees to clean out debris.
Stoudemire also had microfracture surgery on his knee in 2005.
"CHIP" STILL THERE FOR FELTON: Raymond Felton said last season that he was playing with a chip on his shoulder due to criticism he received in 2011-12 for playing out of shape in Portland. Felton said Monday that the chip is still there. This one is the result of losing in the second-round of the playoffs to the Pacers last season.
"I have a bitter taste in my mouth, I think we all have that same taste in our mouth for the way the season ended last year," Felton said. "So the chip is still there. If anything, it’s another chip, and it’s on the other shoulder now."
NO SURE THING FOR TYLER: The Knicks are in a tough spot with free agent signee Jeremy Tyler. They signed the 6-10 Tyler to a partially-guaranteed contract after his strong performance in the summer league. But Tyler underwent surgery to repair a broken bone in his foot late in the summer and is expected to miss all of training camp while rehabbing. So New York has to make a decision about using a roster spot on Tyler without having seen him in an NBA game. If they cut Tyler, they will owe him some money.
When asked about Tyler's roster spot, Mike Woodson said "ain't nothing guaranteed on our team."
He added: "It's up to my general manager and it's up to ownership in terms of what direction we go but right now he's on our ball club. We've got to get him back healthy to see what he's got."
Woodson has repeatedly said that one of the healthy training-camp big men -- Cole Aldrich, Ike Diogu or Josh Powell -- will have a strong chance to earn a spot.
LIVELY SCRIMMAGE: Of the other training camp invites, guard Toure' Murry looked strong during the portion of the team's scrimmage open to the media on Monday. Murry was running the offense for a brief period with some of the Knicks starters. He also drilled a difficult baseline jumper off of a feed from Carmelo Anthony in the scrimmage.
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