The New York Knicks were dealt some tough injury news on Thursday.

OG Anunoby is expected to miss at least three weeks after undergoing surgery to remove a loose bone fragment in his right elbow, the team announced following Thursday's trade deadline.

SNY's Ian Begley reported that Anunoby's surgery is viewed by both the team and player as the "most effective/fastest way to get him fully healthy" for the latter stages of the season and the playoffs.

Begley added that Anunoby is expected to resume basketball activities in three weeks.

The Knicks acquired Anunoby from the Toronto Raptors in December and he has appeared in 14 games for the franchise, making an instant impact alongside Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle.

However, the 26-year-old has missed New York's last five games with what was initially described as elbow inflammation. The Knicks have still performed well in his absence, going 4-1 in that span.

That said, the Knicks are better when Anunoby is in the lineup, and they have the potential to be a real threat for the NBA title following Thursday's trade deadline that saw them acquire Alec Burks and Bojan Bogdanović from the Detroit Pistons.

Anunoby is averaging 15.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.1 blocks since joining the Knicks while shooting 51.6 percent from the field and 39.1 percent from deep. Those are some of the best shooting numbers of his career.

With Anunoby sidelined, the newly acquired Bogdanović will be tasked with helping Brunson and Randle shoulder the scoring load. That shouldn't be much of an issue considering he's averaging 20.2 points on 46.8 percent shooting from the field this season.

The Knicks sit fourth in the Eastern Conference with a 33-18 record entering Thursday's game against the Dallas Mavericks. They're just six games back of the first-place Boston Celtics and one game back of the No. 2 Cleveland Cavaliers.