The New York Knicks have reportedly been forced into their first major roster move as prep for their championship defense.

A Thursday report from Shams Charania of ESPN states that the team will waive center Drew Eubanks after the reserve big man endured a torn pectoral muscle that will keep him out “for an extended period of time.”

Eubanks, who spent last season with the Sacramento Kings, had been competing for a roster spot in Knicks camp following the interior departures of Mitchell Robinson and Ariel Hukporti.

The 29-year-old appeared in three New York preseason games, putting up 13 points and three rebounds in just under 10 minutes a game. He had a few dunks in the interior, earned through aerial lobs to the paint, and finished with eight points, two assists, two rebounds, and a block in the Knicks’ understudies’ Tuesday loss to Toronto.

WebMD states that a torn pec usually takes 6 months to fully recover, especially after surgery. Eubanks was limited to 42 Kings games last season after he was taken out to undergo UCL surgery on his left thumb. The waiving of Eubanks will not drastically affect the Knicks financially, as it will cost them only $15,000 against the cap after he was added on an Exhibit 9 deal.

The medically induced departure of Eubanks offers at least some clarity in the Knicks’ interior situation, one where they’re seeking depth help below Karl-Anthony Towns and Andre Drummond.

Eubanks’ departure gives Wiseman, the second overall pick in the 2020 draft, the inside track to make the roster among the bubble participants. Wiseman is the second-leading rebounder this preseason with an average of 5.3 in his own trio. He stood out as one of the few bright spots in the reserve Knicks’ 50-point defeat, posting an 18-point, 10-rebound double-double.

“You just look for somebody that’s going to play hard at the end of the day, try to do the things that you ask on both sides of the floor — and bring something a little different than what the two guys in front of you do,” Knicks head coach Mike Brown said before Tuesday’s exhibition, per Kristian Winfield of the New York Daily News. “I may throw a guy out there for three minutes. I may throw a guy out there for four minutes, but the reality of it is — those guys — that’s the bubble that they play in during the regular season. So they have to just make the most of it with as few mistakes as possible while giving energy and effort and focusing on the small details.”

The Knicks play their final preseason game of the year on Thursday when they host a rematch with the Raptors at Madison Square Garden (7:30 p.m. ET, MSG 2).