Amar'e Stoudemire is cleared for contact

It was a banged up day at Greenburgh, with Iman Shumpert (still the elbow thing) and Raymond Felton (a new hamstring thing of some sort) skipping the morning scrimmages. Pablo Prigioni did scrimmage through his elbow thing, and there was some other good news, too: Amar'e Stoudemire is cleared for contact. He didn't scrimmage or anything today, but he did do things vaguely resembling competitive basketball, which is a step.

The hope remains that Amar'e will be ready for opening night, but no one's quite sure how realistic that is. Let us consult the local beef writers for thoughts on Amar'e's opening night prospects:

Reports from Tarrytown say Stoudemire was cleared and did halfcourt contact drills today. Book him for the opener. Just as he declared.

— Marc Berman (@NYPost_Berman) October 19, 2013

Despite what you hear from reporters not here, Amar'e HOPEFUL of opening night, but pointed out, health is more important that rushing back.

— Steve Popper (@StevePopper) October 19, 2013

After his Christmas debacle you'd think Berman of Post would stop reporting guesses as facts. But no, BOTP has Amare playing opening night.

— Frank Isola (@FisolaNYDN) October 19, 2013

Okay, cool, thanks guys.

A little preseason burn for Amar'e would be nice, but I doubt that's in the cards. He'll just have to work back into form-- and into a comfortable spot in the rotation-- in games that count, whether that's an opening night or later.

Update: Kenyon Martin ain't ready.