Much of Mitchell Robinson’s past two years have been spent with the New Yorks Knicks center on the shelf.
Robinson suffered a stress fracture in his right ankle in December of 2023, keeping him out of 50 games after he was forced to go under the knife. That postseason, he hurt the same ankle during the team’s first-round playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers, was shut down again three games later and underwent a second surgery.
All be told, Robinson has made an appearance in only 48 of the Knicks’ 164 regular-season games since the end of the 2022-23 campaign, significantly limiting his ability to contribute to the team’s success. For the Knicks to continue their upward trajectory this season, Robinson’s availability needs to improve, according to ESPN’s Chris Herring.
When healthy, Robinson can provide newly-hired head coach Mike Brown with an option to plug into the starting rotation and serve as a defensive stalwart should his offensive-minded teammates get targeted by opposing offenses, Herring wrote.
“He’d seem to be the most likely of the Knicks’ reserves to enter the starting five (he became a starter in the playoffs during the conference finals matchup with the Indiana Pacers), and his strength as a rim protector addresses New York’s biggest issue on defense,” Herring wrote.
This will only be beneficial for the Knicks, however, if Robinson remains on the court — and also is not shouldered with the burden of needing to perform each and every night.
“The Knicks need to be careful in extending his minutes given his injury history. Even when he starred for them this past postseason — at times he looked like the Knicks’ most valuable player in the Celtics series — New York was still ultimately outscored, surrendering a whopping 117.3 points per 100 possessions in the 98 minutes Robinson shared the court with Towns and Brunson,” Herring wrote. “The datapoint suggests Brown would have his work cut out in blending things for the 2025-26 season, and that he’ll need to strike the right balance in using Robinson throughout the regular season.”
During last year’s postseason, the time of year at which Robinson was the healthiest, he played 20.6 minutes per game, averaging 4.7 points, 7.1 rebounds and just under one steal and one block each contest.
