Mitchell Robinson’s departure from the New York Knicks is mostly framed through the lens of the second apron, and what it does to the offensive rebounding. But the elite synergy he forged with Jalen Brunson is a huge loss that can’t be recreated with Andre Drummond—or, for that matter, anyone else on the roster or a training-camp deal.
James Wiseman is the closest facsimile the Knicks have, and who’s reasonably available. The front office should keep this in mind as it finalizes the roster.
Sports Radar’s Todd Crumpler recently posted a graphic showing every team’s most productive pick pairing over the past half-decade, as determined by points generated over expectation. Brunson and Robinsn not only top New York’s list. They formed the league’s eighth-most effective partnership in the entire league:
Each team's most productive* pick pair from the last 5 seasons. pic.twitter.com/ouHbE1Pl1R
— Todd Whitehead (@CrumpledJumper) October 3, 2026
This is a huge deal when you consider the breadth of the sample size. In their four years together, Brunson and Robinson logged over 3,600 tandem minutes across both the regular season and playoffs. Even though Mitch isn’t the highest-volume contributor, New York has lost a real weapon with the dissolution of this two-man game.
James Wiseman can do a better Mitchell Robinson impressions than the Knicks’ other bigs
Recent insight from Ian Begley of SNY suggests the Knicks could dole out their 14th roster spot to Drew Eubanks, because he’s the safest play. To heck with that. If the end of the bench isn’t the perfect place to take a risk, where is?
Eubanks is a reasonable third big in a vacuum. He comes closer to matching Robinson’s best screening practices than Wiseman. But he doesn’t bring the same vertical gravity. He is more likely to trail a play, or hover around the middle of the floor after setting a screen.
That’s fine and dandy if you’re looking for someone who can decision-make on the short roll or send up a flip shot. It also means he could, at times, be attempting to occupy the same space as Brunson.
Not surprisingly, Eubanks isn’t the most productive pick-and-roll diver. He has ranked better than 125th in points over expectation per 100 possessions just once in the past six years.
To be sure, Wiseman doesn’t come off much better. He has only logged enough possessions three times to register in these rankings, and finished inside the top 125 once. But the lone occasion saw him place 46th. His peak is higher.
That’s how it should be for the younger player on the training-camp roster. But even following an Achilles injury, his play style better replicates Robinson’s vertical spacing.
Wiseman can develop much-needed chemistry with Jalen Brunson
While Wiseman might egregiously slip more screens than Eubanks, his rolls and cuts are more likely to take him all the way to the rim. And he’s definitely more of a traditional lob threat.
The last time Wiseman was healthy and on a roster, in 2022-23, over 46 percent of his made baskets came off alley-oops or general dunks. That’s slightly more than Eubanks’ 43 percent share when he last logged at least 1,000 minutes.
These days, meanwhile, Drummond’s interior attempts are more likely to come via cut-ins from the corner, putbacks, or post-ups. He’s not a screen-and-dive above-the-rim force anymore. And he hasn’t been a net-positive roll-man threat in quite some time.
Brunson’s downhill handle and footwork deserve at least one pure rim-runner beside him. Karl-Anthony Towns is too dynamic to shoehorn into that role. Neither Drummond nor Eubanks fits the bill. Robinson did. Though hardly the safe choice, the best version of Wiseman we’ve already seen does, too.
Add us as a preferred source on Google