Mitchell Robinson is a liability for the New York Knicks at the free-throw line. He knows it. And he has revamped is routine at the charity stripe in hopes of fixing it.
As the New York Post’s Stefan Bondy notes, Robinson is now taking one dribble at the free-throw line instead of three, and has adjusted the position of his feet upon discovering many of his failed attempts were missing left.
Asked whether he has a specific goal in mind, the big man simply said “better than last year.” And, well, that would be swell.
Though Robinson shot a career-best 68.4 percent at the charity stripe in 2025-26, this efficiency came across a 17-game sample size. His conversion rate then cratered during the playoffs. He shot a big-woof 39.3 percent on free throws during the postseason, which fueled opposing teams’ incentive to intentionally foul him.
To say this was—and remains—a problem would be a drastic understatement. As Daily Knicks’ own Atticus O'Brien-Pappalardo notes, Robinson was the target of 15 bonus take fouls through the first three quarters of playoff games. Every other player combined had a grand total of…four.
Mitchell Robinson’s free-throw shooting has huge implications
All signs point toward head coach Mike Brown starting Robinson alongside Karl-Anthony Towns. On the bright side, this limits the amount of time Mitch is on the floor with opposing teams in the bonus, and forces them into the dilemma of deciding whether to burn fouls earlier. On the not-so-bright side, starting lineups are also telltale of go-to closing units and overall workload volume.
If Robinson is going to be on the floor for longer, particularly during higher-leverage fourth-quarter moments, becoming less of a liability at the charity stripe is paramount. It gives New York the option of catering to its defensive looks, with him in the middle, and its five-out, offense-first arrangements.
Optionality goes out the window if Robinson gives rival teams a reason to continue poking and prodding at him.
Robinson and the Knicks may endure some growing pains
The changes implemented by Robinson aren’t yet having their intended effect. He is shooting just 33 percent from the foul line (2-of-6) for the preseason.
Still, wholesale improvement doesn’t happen overnight. It doesn’t even happen over one offseason. In this case, there’s a chance it doesn’t happen at all. Struggles from the charity stripe are hardly ever reversed when they’re the better part of a decade old.
With that said, it’s not like the Knicks need Robinson to bang in 90 percent of his threebies. They just need him to improve enough to dissuade intentional fouls, and extend not only his minutes, but the dual-big stints they’re trying to make work.
Hovering around last season’s 68.4 percent clip or even 60 percent would be fine. Whether it’s actually possible remains to be seen.