Mitchell Robinson has a message for everyone who wanted the New York Knicks to ship him out at the 2025 NBA trade deadline: LOL.
Moving the 27-year-old big man would have been, as it turns out, an unmitigated disaster. After beating the Boston Celtics in Game 6 on Friday night, the Knicks are heading to their first Eastern Conference Finals since 2000. And they wouldn’t be headed there, to face the Indiana Pacers, without Robinson.
The Knicks would have traded Robinson for rock-bottom value
When the February trade deadline rolled around, Robinson had appeared in exactly zero games this season. He was recovering from left ankle surgery at the time, with his timeline for return all over the place, lacking any type of certainty.
Imagine what the Knicks would have received in return for him then. He was considered an injury-prone big man, with a vastly limited offensive skill set. Spoon-feed NBA executives from every other team truth serum, and they probably admit that they viewed the one year and $13 million left on Robinson's deal after 2024-25 as a big, fat net-negative.
For their part, the Knicks were probably tempted to trade him anyway. The rotation is shallow now. It was bare-bones before Robinson's return. New York needed more bodies—a big who was actually available, another wing, some shooting, maybe another ball-handler. Robinson was widely seen as the only vessel through which they could check any of those boxes.
Except, because he wasn't playing, his utility in trade talks was minimal. Teams would acquire him as just another salary, not because of his impact play. Barren of many other assets, the Knicks could have flipped him for whatever they could get. They didn't. And it's making a massive difference when it matters most.
New York doesn't beat Boston without Robinson
It would be a stretch to say Robinson was New York's best player against Boston. It is not a stretch to say the Knicks don't beat the Celtics without him. That's just a matter of fact.
New York outscored Boston with Robinson on the floor this series by 46 points—by far and away the best plus-minus on the team. Deuce McBride checks in at No. 2...as a plus-16.
The defensive value Roboinson provided is almost beyond words. It can basically be summed up in one frenetic play from Game 6:
Boston's offense could seldom get going all series with Robinson in the game. The Celtics averaged under 1.03 points per possession during his minutes. (For context, they leave the playoffs putting up 1.14 points per possession overall.)
Robinson gummed up the works for everyone. He cut off drives. He deterred shots from ever being attempted at the rim. He held his own in space. He contested jumpers. He was the human foil for both Jaylen Brown and Derrick White.
Even if Jayson Tatum never goes down with an Achilles injury, the Knicks probably win this series. That is how disruptive Robinson was to the Celtics' offensive operations.
The Knicks will need Robinson to make the Finals
The job isn't done for New York. The Pacers are up next, and Robinson is no less important.
Indiana plays at a faster clip than Boston, both on the break and in the half-court. If Robinson is moving the way he did during the semis, he will be able to hold his own. More than that, he will be a lifeline.
OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges have jazzed up their defensive effort during the playoffs. Josh Hart, too. But Karl-Anthony Towns remains a maddening mix of inconsistent and, for long stretches, incapable. Robinson is the much better option to guard Pascal Siakam in space, to contest Myles Turner jumpers, and to bump off drives from Indiana's ball-handlers.
Dual-big units deserve extensive run from head coach Tom Thibodeau in the Eastern Conference Finals. Towns and Robinson are living up to the hype together. It comes at an offensive cost, but the defensive gains are worth it.
And even if the Knicks must favor the one-big model, Robinson just has to play more in general. New York didn't need him to play a ton in Game 6. That won't be true every night.
Robinson is no longer a potential luxury. He is a necessity—the defensive linchpin the Knicks are lucky they didn't trade, because don't make it this far without him. And they won't make it any further without him, either.
Dan Favale is a Senior NBA Contributor for FanSided and National NBA Writer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Bluesky (@danfavale), and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, co-hosted by Bleacher Report's Grant Hughes.