If all goes well, Iman Shumpert will play in London.

Earlier in the week, we got the wonderful and somewhat surprising news that Iman Shumpert would join the Knicks on their trip to London. The word was he'd practice and suit up for Thursday's game against the Pistons, but it was uncertain whether or not he'd actually take the court. That just got updated by Chris Herring and Jonah Ballow:

Woodson also said that Iman Shumpert would make his season debut Thursday barring any setbacks with his left knee.

When asked if he was on track for THURS, @I_Am_Iman replied, "Yeah" #Knicks

So, Britain P&Ters, you may very well witness the trishumphant return in person. I'm jealous. Shumpert will almost certainly come off the bench (a role he's fine with, of course) and play limited minutes at the outset, then we'll see how his role increases from there. And yes, the flat-top will remain erect.

I'm excited and I bet you are, too, though we should remember that his play may be tentative and his progress slow. It's hard to imagine Shump doing anything tentatively or slowly, but a torn ACL is a torn ACL. There may be some rust, some setbacks, some prescribed days off, and all that. With luck, though, we'll have full Shumpitude restored soon enough, and all of a sudden, opposing guards will have to think twice about testing the perimeter D. They don't want these problems.