The New York Knicks entered Wednesday night's game against the Denver Nuggets as winners of seven straight games. Mitchell Robinson proved, once again, why he's just too valuable to this group to be dealt ahead of Thursday's trade deadline. After crossing up Nikola Jokic and throwing one down at the rim, he blocked the three-time MVP's 3-point attempt into the stands on the very next play. The Knicks aren't getting that kind of impact from anyone they can acquire at the trade deadline, unless a certain two-way forward on the Milwaukee Bucks decides to leverage his way to the Big Apple.
Robinson gets the best of Jokic on both ends in 2nd quarter sequence
Knick fans are familiar with the following situation: after failing to create any separation, one of New York's ball handlers dumps the ball off on Robinson, who stands at the top of the key until someone gets open. In the second quarter, Robinson was put in that exact scenario. He wrote a new script.
It seems like, at least once per season, Robinson decides to let his infamous ball-handling abilities flash on the NBA floor and not just in offseason workout footage. A third of the way through Wednesday's game against the Nuggets, he took the ball from the top of the key, blew by Jokic with a crossover, and threw down a two-handed slam.
On the very next play, the Nuggets' MVP center was looking to respond. But the real show for fans came when, right after launching a 3-point shot at the rim from the left corner, the ball was swatted by Robinson into the stands. The home crowd at Madison Square Garden erupted, despite Denver retaining possession. It was enough to set the tone.
Robinson proves his value to Knicks again with latest highlights
The NBA Finals isn't decided by a committee that meets and awards the trophy to the team with the most highlight plays at the end of the year. Robinson's big-time plays against a big-time superstar in Jokic, though, demonstrated once again that his value to the Knicks is too high to try and replace or shift around at the deadline.
Even though the center's deal expires at the end of this season, New York can't get caught up in trying to extract as much value as they can out of their roster. This team is set to compete for a title, with those expectations being made clear by governorship on local radio at the beginning of January.
Unless it's necessary to trade the big man's contract to land Giannis Antetokounmpo from the Milwaukee Bucks, the Knicks can't afford to move this guy. Even if it means potentially losing him for nothing after the season.