Mitchell Robinson‘s latest Instagram post appeared to portray his readiness to begin his seventh season with the New York Knicks.
“It’s getting to be about that time 💙🧡,” Robinson wrote, accompanying a series of photos of him on the court.
It turned out it was the opposite as news leaked out on Monday, September 23, that he will miss the start of the season.
According to multiple reports, Robinson has yet to fully recover from his ankle surgery in May and the Knicks are targeting a December or January return for the injury-prone center.
Yaron Weitzman of Fox Sports first reported the news.
“The Knicks’ priority is to be smart with Robinson’s rehab—they do not want to rush him back before he’s 100%,” Weitzman wrote. “The Knicks also maintain that they are confident in the current depth and versatility of their roster.”
Mitchell Robinson’s Durability is Liability
Robinson is the only legit 7-footer in their roster.
Without Robinson, the Knicks are left with 6-foot-10 Jericho Sims, who has yet to find his solid footing in the league, as their tallest player in the lineup.
The 26-year-old Robinson is the Knicks longest tenured player. But he hasn’t been durable. He’s only completed one regular season — the pandemic-shortened 72-game calendar during the 2021-22 season — in his first six seasons in the NBA.
Over the last two seasons, Robinson underwent a number of surgeries that cost him a combined 74 games not including the postseason.
The Knicks had the luxury of having Isaiah Hartenstein last season when Robinson missed 50 games. But Hartenstein is gone.
Hartenstein cashed in on his breakout performance last season as he signed with the Oklahoma City Thunder for a lucrative $87 million three-year contract which was more than what the Knicks were allowed to offer because of his early Bird rights.
The Knicks tried, but were unsuccessful, in signing or trading for a center in the offseason.
Small-Ball Knicks
Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau told NBA.com’s Steve Aschburner recently that replacing Hartenstein, and now including Robinson for at least the first two to three months of the season, will be “done by committee.”
“We’ll look at some different things because we have versatility — we could see Julius [Randle] more at the 5,” Thibodeau told Aschburner. “I don’t want to do that for long stretches — it would take its toll. But to have him do it for 10 or 15 minutes, I think he can do it well. He also would create a lot of [offensive] advantages.”
Thibodeau had been reluctant in the past to play small ball, particularly playing Randle alongside his former backup, Obi Toppin.
But his revealing interview with NBA.com showed Thibodeau is more willing to experiment now.
Why the sudden change?
Thibodeau pointed to the team’s newfound versatility with a pair of strong perimeter defenders in OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges as the key factor to changing his mind.
“Obviously, the OG signing was huge for us,” Thibodeau told Aschburner. “And then adding Mikal [Bridges] was phenomenal. Getting Julius [Randle] back will be huge as well. We lost [Isaiah] Hartenstein, which is what we’ll have to replace. But I think we have versatility, where we can play smaller at times because of OG’s ability to guard big. Julius and [Josh] Hart can guard big as well.”
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