Mitchell Robinson's cryptic Instagram story stirs up Knicks trade speculation

There's nothing like some pre-training camp New York Knicks drama. After months of speculation about Mitchell Robinson's status for opening night in Boston, the starting center is officially out until December or January. He had his second ankle surgery of the 2023-24 season in May.

You might be wondering what's dramatic about that. Unfortunately, injuries are common. It's not unusual for players who undergo surgery to miss the start of the season. Robinson's surgery technically wasn't offseason surgery since it happened before the Knicks were eliminated, but it was late enough for it to impact 2024-25.

Training camp will open next week, so fans will know more about Robinson's status until then. Did he suffer a setback during rehab? Or is New York playing it safe?

On Tuesday, fans got an idea of what might be going on behind the scenes. Robinson is notorious for expressing his frustrations on social media, and he continued that trend.

Knicks center Mitchell Robinson says "truth will always come out"

Robinson may be talking about his personal life, not his basketball career. However, there's reason to suspect that his Instagram story is related to Monday's injury news.

In late June (before the draft), Jake Fischer reported that the Knicks were shopping Robinson. Shortly after, Isaiah Hartenstein left New York for Oklahoma City in free agency. The Knicks explored trade options before they re-signed Precious Achiuwa to a one-year, six-million deal.

New York's frontcourt depth was a weakness before it was known that Robinson would miss the first few months of the season. That weakness is now an even bigger issue, but the Knicks are reportedly confident in the depth and versatility of the current roster.

There have been talks about a potential New York midseason trade. Maybe the Knicks are shopping Robinson again, but that hasn't been reported. It'd be hard to sell an injured center in trade talks. Or perhaps Robinson is upset with how New York handled his injury. Maybe he thought he should be cleared. It's impossible to know what's going on based on a social media post.

A Robinson trade could happen this season. The Knicks are a first-apron tax team, so they can't receive more than they send out in a deal. If they go after a center like Isaiah Stewart (this is just an example), New York would have to include Robinson's salary in the deal. The collective bargaining agreement complicates the Knicks' existing challenges.

Hopefully, whatever is going on with Robinson will be cleared up soon. Even though he won't make his season debut until two or three months after the Knicks' first regular-season game, New York doesn't need that cloud hanging over its head.