From Tim Bontemps (is Bontemps their new Woj? I don’t dislike Bontemps, I’m just curious):
New York Knicks center Mitchell Robinson will miss the beginning of the regular season after offseason ankle surgery, league sources confirmed to ESPN, leaving an already thin center spot even thinner.
Robinson, who played 31 games last season and underwent ankle surgery in December, again hurt a foot/ankle during New York’s first-round playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers and missed the final six games of the second-round series against the Indiana Pacers.
The Knicks are targeting Robinson to return in December or January, sources said, though the timing will be dictated by his rehabilitation process.
The center spot was already a significant question after last season’s primary starter, Isaiah Hartenstein, signed a three-year, $87 million deal with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
In addition to Robinson, New York re-signed Precious Achiuwa to a one-year, $6 million deal over the summer and has fourth-year center Jericho Sims.
Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said in an interview with NBA.com last week that he also sees scenarios where forward Julius Randle, who has a $30.9 million player option for 2025-26, could slot in at center in a small-ball lineup. Thibodeau has rarely gone that direction in the past, not only during his stint with the Knicks but also in prior stops with the Timberwolves and Bulls, instead preferring to have size and rim protection anchoring his defense at the pivot.
Well, that’s not good. Unless you think it somehow is, which, okay.
19 replies on “ESPN.com: Sources: Knicks’ Mitchell Robinson to miss start of season, but had he started the season, it would have been sour, anyways”
And my dream of seeing how our current team looks like before the deadline goes out the window. I don’t understand the takes that this can be good news in disguise, this is not good news at all. But we must keep cool and wait for the right opportunity to strike. I agree DDV or Deuce can be used to get a starter C, because we need it more than we need both of them. The ball is on Leon’s side, i hope he can surprise us again, like he did with OG and Mikal, and net us a C a lot better than we’re imagining.
We can’t pay for a starting C, let alone overpay for one with Deuce, Dadiet, and whatever 2nd Rd picks we have left.
It’s Hukporti, Precious, and Randle. That’s it.
I’m not happy that Mitch is healing slowly, but there’s no way he was getting through 82 games healthy. I don’t think he can makes it through the 30-40 games left after January and 4 rounds of the playoffs without a season ending injury.
Yup. At this point Mitch’s injuries seem to span multiple seasons. I’m expecting him to be hurt again by March and out for a good chunk of 2025-26.
Surely I can’t be the only person who remembers that Mitch, OG, and Randle all reinjured themselves last year on aggressive rehabilitation timelines.
The article didn’t mention a complication, a setback, or reinjury. It didn’t say anything negative at all. It just said the timeline was extended. While your presumption is doom, I’m thinking maybe they learned their lesson from last year.
Pretty sure we’re gonna make Sims the starter and keep Precious as the backup, Thibs loves doing that.
Please stop peeing in my foxhole, fellas…. this isn’t ideal, but we are starting the season with the team that was probably going to the EC finals til OG popped his hammy and swapping IHart for Bridges. That is still a good team.
The should get Randle back before Christmas and Mitch by 2/1. That is a contender team. Not the favorite, but a potential handful. Take a valium FFS… with no real centers they’ll be fine on most nights. Some match ups will be problematic. Leon isn’t panicking…
All reports are saying Randle will be ready to start off the season, so I’m staying in the happy place where we get a beefed up healthy Mitch coming around playoff push time and the starting 5 of JB, Hart/Divo, Bridges, OG & Randle will be a powerhouse stay in the top 3 in the east for most of season.
This kind of folds into 2 & 3 but I think the market for centers is just locked. There’s not a long list of guys you’d want to be our starting center, and the teams that have them don’t want to trade them.
Find a guy you want and try to put together a package that is legitimately enticing for the team in question. It’s a really hard exercise.
Do you want to trade Donte & Precious for Capela? I don’t, but that’s out there.
Wendall Carter Jr intrigues me but he’s not exactly a Thibs guy.
I don’t think it makes any sense for Portland to sell low on Time Lord right now.
It’s a tough market.
I’d do it. I think Brunson, Mikal, OG, Randle and Capela is a great starting 5. And Thibs would turn Capela into a great defender again.
Capela is pretty close to washed. And I wouldn’t trade key players for a center over 25, but that’s just me.
Too bad i don’t watch the other teams, because that makes me remember the players only when they’ve played against us. LOL
Cancel the trade, Leon, cancel the trade! 😀
“Nothing is fucked, dude. C’mon, you’re being very un-dude.”
I’m with Hubert. New physio regime. Don’t break the toys. I hope Randle listens.
I’ve seen enough of him down here in Charlotte to think that Nick Richards would be a nice stopgap center who shouldn’t cost too much. I think he is being wasted in a losing environment and a change of scenery would help him a great deal. He is very athletic with a nice touch. At 7′ he can play 4 or 5 and can even guard on the perimiter. I would definitely give up a fugazy first for him if Mitch is out until January.
I’m going with option 2, they just don’t like any of the deals available. This isn’t surprising, New Orleans is worse off at center, and they haven’t found a deal they like either. If there is a deal to be had, it might be with Portland if Time Lord actually gets healthy.
Josh Hart moving from back up Power Forward to starting Center spot. Problem solved.
I worry that with undersized options at center more people will
get injured.
The league is such that there only a small handful of teams that can exploit our thin C rotation. Obviously Philly, Denver, Minny, then MIL, OKC, BOS, maybe CLE…against most other teams either our C’s can hold their own or we have advantages elsewhere if we go small.
Even a team like Boston is mostly a 5-out team, and Sims and Precious can defend in space. You also have excellent wing defenders who will hopefully make rim protection less of a priority.
The most concerning thing to me in the short term is Randle’s health and effectiveness. With Mitch in the fold, we could much better tolerate a slow acclimatization period from Randle, but without him he will possibly be called upon to do too much too soon.
One X-factor is that both Precious and Sims, who I think have some potential that a full offseason and training camp can unlock, are possibly up to the task. They know that this will be their last, best opportunity to make their mark in the NBA. Both seem like serious, hard workers who will embrace the opportunity.
Another is that last year we were panicking about our lack of depth at the wing/PF and PG positions, and now we have an actual glut at both. In addition to Mikal and OG, we have KBD, Payne, and Kolek..and perhaps even Dadiet, Huk, Morris, and Shamet can eat enough minutes to keep us in pretty good stead until Mitch gets back on the court.
The worries that Thibs will shorten the rotation and overplay guys early on to chase regular season wins are certainly valid. At some point, Leon and his medical/training staff has to impress upon him that championships aren’t won in November and December.