There is a lot of hype surrounding the New York Knicks prior to the 2024-25 season tipping off. After being the butt of jokes by NBA fans for many years after the Patrick Ewing era, the Knicks have found their way back to being respected. They have advanced to the second round in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1999 and 2000.
Add Mikal Bridges to the mix, and Knicks fans have reason to believe they can take it a step further. Perhaps their first championship since 1973 is coming soon? While optimism is the highest it has been in decades, New York did lose Isaiah Hartenstein to the Oklahoma City Thunder in free agency. That loss makes it of utmost importance that the longest-tenured Knick stays on the court.
Knicks Man In The Middle Not Considered Top 30 At His Position
Robinson’s Injuries And Limited Scoring
The website HoopsHype has been posting their top 30 players at each position for the 2024-25 season. On August 31, they did the top 30 at the center position. Conspicuous by his absence is Mitchell Robinson, the Knicks starting center.
The 26-year-old has been with New York since being selected in the second round (36th overall) in the 2018 NBA Draft. Entering his seventh season, he has been with the Knicks longer than any other player on their current roster. Often utilized in the starting lineup during his career, Robinson has two years remaining on his deal at a little over $27 million. He started last season as the Knicks starter in the middle, but after an ankle injury sidelined him for 50 games, he returned to a reserve role. With Hartenstein gone, Robinson will enter back into the starting lineup.
It was that lengthy time off the court that some fans often bring up about Robinson. Since entering the league, Robinson has appeared in 320 out of a possible 468 games. They also bring up his lack of a bag on the offensive end. His scoring mostly consists of putbacks and the occasional alley-oop. Robinson is a career 51.8% free-throw shooter and has been worse than that in recent seasons.
Robinson Has Been Elite At Other Facets Of The Game
There are aspects of the game that Robinson truly excels at though. He still provides value on the offensive end without scoring. The Knicks have plenty of players who can put the ball in the hoop. Robinson’s role is to get in position to grab their misses which he does arguably better than anyone in the league. Robinson grabbed 4.6 offensive rebounds per game last season and 6.7 per 36 minutes. It was the third straight season that he averaged at least 4.1 boards on the offensive end.
Robinson was arguably having his best season on the defensive end as well prior to his ankle injury. There were talks of him perhaps finding his way on an All-Defensive team by the end of the season. He’s also already second in franchise history with his 602 career blocks. Where Robinson has improved most throughout his career is staying on his feet and not committing silly fouls. His fouls per 36 minutes have gone from 5.7 as a rookie to a career-low 2.6 in 2023-24.
Some Centers On HoopsHype’s List Over Him
Should Robinson have been on the list? Coming in 30th was Steven Adams, now of the Houston Rockets. Adams is up there with Robinson as the game’s top offensive rebounders. We have seen much less of Adams than Robinson though of late. He missed half of the 2022-23 season with a sprained PCL, an injury that also sidelined him all of last season. Adams is also 31 years old, five years older than Robinson.
A couple other players that are a little higher on the list are Mark Williams at #24 and Jalen Duren at #27. Now those two may put up better numbers than Robinson, but they also have played on awful teams in the Charlotte Hornets and Detroit Pistons respectively. They haven’t always shown the consistency and effort on the defensive end that Robinson has.
The 2024-25 season is an important one for Robinson. Remaining on the court would allow the Knicks to have three standout defenders in their starting lineup with Robinson, Bridges, and OG Anunoby. He is certainly capable of making HoopsHype look silly by leaving him off their top 30 centers.
