This painful number could force Knicks to start Mitchell Robinson

One of the biggest talking points for the Knicks heading into the season is what their starting lineup will look like. Four of the spots are set in stone, but cases can be made for Josh Hart, Mitchell Robinson, or Deuce McBride to fill the final spot. The fact that the Knicks had the worst rim defense in the league last season is a key piece of the argument for why Robinson should claim the role.

Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, and Karl-Anthony Towns all figure to be locks for the starting lineup. From there, it will be up to Mike Brown to decide who slides into the final spot.

Brown could opt to go the Thibodeau route by starting Hart, an option that reportedly has some level of backing internally. Another option, one that I have been a supporter of, is sliding McBride into a starting role. That move would provide elite point of attack play on defense while optimizing spacing on offense.

The final option, one the Knicks went to in the playoffs, is going with a double-big lineup of Towns and Mitchell. For those fed up with the Knicks' interior defense last season, this option could seem most enticing.

Mitchell significantly helps the Knicks defense

According to league tracking data, the Knicks allowed opposing teams to shoot 64.8 percent at the rim last season, the worst field goal percentage allowed at the rim in the league. Similarly, according to the BBall Index, the Knicks ranked 24th in "Rim Deterrence", an internal metric that measures how a player’s presence on-court impacts opponents’ frequency of attacking the rim.

Robinson played only 17 games for the Knicks in the regular season, but in the playoffs, it was clear how impactful his defense was to the team. The Knicks gave up four more points per 100 possessions in the playoffs with Robinson off the floor, according to pbpstats.com.

Similarly, opposing teams shot a whopping seven percent better at the rim with Robinson on the bench.

Can Robinson's body handle a starting role?

There are also several downsides to Robinson starting for the Knicks. For one, it would likely mean opposing wings guarding Towns, something he struggled with over the last half of the season and in the playoffs. It also hurts the Knicks' spacing, limiting the possibility for Towns and Brunson to run two-man actions with the rest of the lineup spaced.

Then there is Robinson's injury history, something that has hampered him throughout his entire career. It is possible that the Knicks would be wiser to save him for the playoffs by leaving him on the bench during the regular season. Ultimately, the Knicks have options, which is a good thing. In an ideal world, we will see Brown try multiple different combinations, something that never happened under Thibodeau.