NY Knicks: The Top 3 Options to be The Defensive Stopper

Mitchell Robinson will be a force not to be reckoned with this season

Remember how I said if Mitchell Robinson can become a good on-ball defender, he will become a Defensive Player of the Year candidate? Time to see if he can put it together.

Though I was going to put a different Knick here, the potential Robinson has, in general, is still enormous.

Robinson can move like very few other 7 footers.

He’s quick on his feet and is right now poised to be the greatest shot blocker on 3 point attempts the NBA has ever recorded, as Wilt Chamberlain would probably hold that record pretty dominantly if blocked shot stats were around when he played.

Robinson’s last full season without injury was the shortened 2019-20 season, where he blocked more three-pointers than 11 NBA teams.

Mitch’s ability to time when players are going to shoot the ball so well, mixed with his athletic build, is great to build off to make him a good perimeter defender.

It is vital to note that Tom Thibodeau did not fully work with Robinson, who spent much of last year injured.

Though he’ll miss the beginning of the upcoming season while he recovers from his foot surgery in March, the season is less compacted, therefore he should get a decent chunk of games under his belt.

Mitch will get more time to be with the team than he has had since his rookie year.

Being under Tom Thibodeau instead of David Fizdale, we could see Robinson start to pick up his on-ball defense, which could be interesting against players such as Giannis Antetokounmpo.