Mitchell Robinson’s future has become a point of emphasis now that Mikal Bridges is locked down. Here’s a dirty little secret, though: The New York Knicks might not have anything to worry about.
Letting your could-be starting center hit the open market in 2026 feels dangerous, particularly when more teams are projected to have cap space. If New York doesn’t extend Robinson, the thinking goes, it better be prepared to move him.
On the other hand…maybe not.
Mitchell Robinson will not have a robust free-agency market
ESPN’s salary-cap guru Bobby Marks projects 10 teams to have significant cap space next summer: The Brooklyn Nets, Charlotte Hornets, Chicago Bulls, Detroit Pistons, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, Portland Portland Trail Blazers, Utah Jazz, and Washington Wizards. That’s a lot of potential suitors.
Except, of these 10 squads, only three seem like they could be on the prowl for a higher-end center. The Bulls do not have anyone special on tap after Nikola Vucevic, who’s entering the final year of his deal. The Hornets are either going to start Moussa Diabate or Mason Plumlee this season, which…yikes. And the Lakers could find themselves back to the center-spot drawing board if Deandre Ayton doesn’t pan out.
Anyone else interested in Robinson won’t have more than the non-taxpayer mid-level exception to dangle ($15.1 million). The Knicks will have zero issues matching or beating such offers. It is, on average, what they paid Robinson in the four-year, $60 million deal he’s about to wrap up.
Plus, his field of admirers might be even smaller than many think. Whether we’re talking about cap-space teams or mid-level shoppers, Robinson’s murky bill of health serves as a deterrent. He has missed 113 games over the past two seasons, and averaged nearly 38 absences per year over the past half-decade.
The Knicks may be able to keep Robinson on the cheap
Figuring out how to afford Robinson while paying the rest of the core is the bigger challenge for New York. But “bigger” does not equate to “insurmountable.”
The Knicks have (admittedly somewhat complicated) ways that they can skirt the second apron again in 2026-27, and still keep Robinson. More likely, they will have the option of running everyone back while dipping just far enough into the second apron that they can reverse course if things go wrong.
Everything essentially hinges on how much money Robinson commands. As valuable as he can be, he’s not getting money comparable to Jarrett Allen ($28 million), or Isaiah Hartenstein ($28.5 million). Health once again plays a factor here, but so does the rest of the market.
Next year’s crop of available centers is sneaky-deep. Jalen Duren, Walker Kessler, and Mark Williams can all be restricted free agents. The Oklahoma City Thunder have a team option on Hartenstein. Ditto for the Clippers with Lopez. Ayton has a player option. Robert Williams III will be available. Suitors may prefer all of these names to Robinson.
And even if they don’t, guess what? Just two centers this summer got more than $10.2 million in the first year of their new contracts. So regardless of how the Knicks handle the Robinson situation, one thing’s for sure: They’re in the driver’s seat.