If the New York Knicks were hoping it’d get easier to figure out where Mitchell Robinson fits into their future, well, we have some bad news: It’s not happening.
The push and pull between his importance to the team versus his checkered availability and upcoming free agency is all sorts of exhausting. His uniquely overwhelming counting stats are only complicating it further.
Ahead of the Knicks’ Wednesday night win over the Los Angeles Clippers, MSG Networks provided a truly bonkers stat: Robinson is one of just five players to have racked up at least 100 offensive rebounds, 20 steals, and 20 blocks. His company: Jalen Duren, Rudy Gobert, Kel’el Ware, and Moussa Diabate.
But wait, it gets better. Or worse, depending on how you look at it.
Robinson has hit these benchmarks by logging more than 300 minutes less than any other name on the list. That is all at once absurd, pleasantly arming, and wildly unsettling.
The Knicks are facing a complex Mitchell Robinson decision
To be fair, Robinson’s value to the Knicks when on the floor has seldom been in question. He is an historically dominant offensive rebounder, and while his defense is all over the place this year, he can disrupt possessions from the perimeter and around the basket when operating at the peak of his powers.
The level of playmaking Robinson brings on the less-glamorous end is a notch above standout. Anthony Davis is the only active player with more seasons in which he’s posted a steal percentage north of 2 and block percentage above 5.
Someone so valuable should be considered indispensable. And in many ways, he is. The Knicks do not have anyone on the team who can replicate his offensive rebounding. Nor do they have anyone who can protect the rim like he does, while also moving his feet on the perimeter as well.
The problem: availability.
Robinson has missed about one-third of the season. More critically, it seems as if his surgically repaired ankle will forever require him to be on a maintenance program. Counting on someone to buoy your championship hopes without knowing how often they’ll play is beyond risky. It verges on impossible when they’re also up for a new contract.
A Mitchell Robinson decision is coming soon
New York’s front office has typically traded key players it doesn’t plan on paying moving forward. Robinson will almost assuredly be no exception.
If the Knicks hold onto him past the February 5 trade deadline, an extension could come before he has the chance to reach free agency over the offseason. In the event he hits the open market, they’ll be banking on other suitors remaining reluctant to pay him—just like them.
Rolling that dice is hazardous. Robinson could leave for nothing, or force New York to bankroll an uncomfortably expensive contract.
Then again, letting the market dictate his value could serve as a reality check for Robinson himself. Even when he’s consistently available, it’s not like he’s on the floor for protracted stretches at a time. He ranks outside the top 250 in total minutes played this season.
This is all complicated, and awkward, and definitely unnerving. So many metrics paint Robinson as one of the Knicks’ most impactful players, bar none. Other numbers, meanwhile, paint him as unreliable and, relative to his next contract, potentially cost prohibitive.
Which data points will New York read into more: the ones with Robinson on the court, or those that bring into question whether he’ll be on the court enough? We’ll soon find out.