During his tenure with the New York Knicks, the surfacing of offseason videos showcasing perceived shooting improvements from Mitchell Robinson almost became a tradition.
With these clips, excitement that the 7-footer could be used more as an offensive floor stretcher annually ran rampant.
Sadly, not once throughout his eight years in the Big Apple did these reels translate into in-game development in this area of play. Now, entering his debut campaign in Boston, it appears the Celtics may soon endure this same kind of experience that Knicks fans did for nearly a decade.
Celtics to be let down by same Mitchell Robinson fantasy Knicks were
Over the last few days, a video surfaced on social media showing Robinson working on his shooting stroke, taking and making shots from all over the court, and even flashing a few crafty dribble moves.
On top of this, during Monday's media day, he told reporters that he had also been practicing his foul shooting "a lot" this summer, something that, like his floor spacing abilities, has been a skill set that's been severely lacking throughout his career.
Of course, as was the case with his hints at developing a mid-to-long-range game, year after year, Knicks fans constantly heard whispers that Robinson was hard at work improving his production from the charity stripe.
Unfortunately, this, too, was something that never was able to be improved upon, despite these exciting rumblings, as he closed out his Knicks career with an average 50.8 free throw percentage, and shot a truly abysmal 40.8 percent from the line just last season.
So while it may be easy to fantasize about just how much better Robinson could become by refining his shooting skills, ultimately, the idea of this being actualized is a mere fantasy.
The Celtics will learn this soon enough.
Knicks players still reeling from Mitchell Robinson exit
While his lack of development as a shooter was far from enjoyable, his nitty-gritty contributions provided to this Knicks team over the years will certainly be missed.
Although he made his decision to depart for Boston months ago, clearly his absence is still felt among his former teammates.
During media day, a number of Knicks players spoke out about their disappointment at seeing Robinson walk this summer. Karl-Anthony Towns said it "hurt" to hear the news that he was leaving for the Celtics, while Jalen Brunson acknowledged that it's "definitely tough."
Fortunately, in response to his C's signing, New York went out and signed veteran Andre Drummond to a low-cost, one-year deal, someone who provides a similar set of skills to Mitch and, to Brunson, should serve as "a big key to this team" in 2026-27.
Of course, though Drummond's arrival may soften the blow, losing Robinson was clearly not something the Knicks were hoping to see this summer.
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