Mitchell Robinson may be on the verge of playing more for the New York Knicks, which is a terrifying notion—for the rest of the league.
Though the 27-year-old center has missed more than half of the team’s regular-season games, head coach Mike Brown recently offered an encouraging update that hints at him being more available.
“In terms of continuing to ramp (Mitchell Robinson) up, his stretches—he can go longer with his stretches,” New York’s head honcho said, per SNY’s Iang Begley. “He can go longer with his minutes now than before. So, it’s constantly on the rise.”
This is a big deal. Robinson has yet to crack the 20-minute plateau, and isn’t playing super-extended pockets when he’s on the floor. It isn’t clear how much wiggle room he’ll have as he continues to ramp up, but any additional court time will matter.
The Knicks are playing Mitchell Robinson in dribs and drabs
The Knicks have made it clear they are going to manage Robinson’s workload amid concerns about his surgically repaired ankle. It’ll be a genuine surprise if he’s ever playing in back-to-backs.
Hoping he can survive for longer single-game stretches feels like the middle ground. New York currently isn’t throwing him on the hardwood for more than three or four minutes at a time.
Mind you, the measured approach is working. The Knicks are outsourcing opponents by 34.6 points per 100 possessions when he’s on the floor—a top-five mark among every player averaging at least the same number of minutes. Robinson also just notched one of the best single-game plus-minuses in NBA history for a player who tallied under 20 minutes.
Extending his stretches to, say, five or six minutes seems like a fair endgame. Failing that, maybe trying to sprinkle in a fourth and/or fifth stint on the floor could work. Either approach allows the Knicks to roll out Robinson for between 24 to 25 minutes on a regular basis.
More Robinson will be a GREAT thing for a New York
Robinson’s impact on the Knicks’ rebounding and defense isn’t breaking news. But given his checkered availability, it can be easy to forget just how important he is to optimizing the team.
Sure, New York concedes certain functional elements with him on the floor. The offense will not be able to play at a lightning-quick pace when he’s sharing the floor with Karl-Anthony Towns. That’s a worthwhile trade-off when you consider the results, and particularly when the Knicks are not operating at a blistering speed just yet anyway.
Increasing Robinson’s court time also has a trickle-down effect on the rest of the roster. New York suddenly becomes even less reliant on Guerschon Yabusele—which, at this point, would be a great thing. Juicing tandem-big minutes makes Towns’ life easier on defense.
Above all, though, more Robinson paves the way for additional reps with a starting unit that is annihilating opponents. The Knicks are a plus-58.8 points per 100 possessions when he’s playing alongside Towns, Jalen Brunson, OG Anunoby, and Mikal Bridges. That’s the second-best net rating in the entire league among 78 lineups to notch at least 25 minutes.
Robinson will almost assuredly never play as much or often as would be ideal. But as the Knicks are finding out for the umpteenth time, a little bit of Mitch goes a long way. So just imagine what they’ll be capable of if they get any more from him, at all, than they are now.