Steve Popper: A Mitchell Robinson return to the Knicks seems like a long shot
Knicks center Mitchell Robinson. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
In the week since the parade ended and the confetti was cleaned up, the Knicks have gotten back to work, beginning all of the small moves around the fringes of the roster to prepare for the bigger decisions — just how to live up to the level to which they have raised the franchise.
The Knicks put together a deep and talented roster, a versatile group that has been a contender for years, and it culminated in the long-awaited NBA championship. So now, with free agency just days away, the Knicks are being eyed with curiosity as they try to keep as much of the roster intact as possible.
What is clear is that without going into the second apron, the Knicks can’t seem to make the math work and keep Mitchell Robinson, Landry Shamet and Jordan Clarkson. What isn’t clear is whether they intend to try to hold on to those important rotation pieces.
Keeping all three of them seems unlikely. Keeping two is a math problem. What the Knicks haven’t done is give an answer as to which direction they’d veer if they could keep only one.
The most intriguing free agent is Robinson. The history of the front office tells you that the Knicks don’t let a player walk in free agency for nothing (see: Immanuel Quickley, Julius Randle, Quentin Grimes). So it’s hard to imagine that the Knicks will let him leave with nothing in return.
They had chances to extend Robinson and passed, understandably, given his injury history. There has been frustration in the organization with his free-throw struggles, and no one was pleased when he broke his right pinkie in an off-court incident in the postseason, but it’s also countered by what he delivers on the court (and his willingness to get on the court with the injury).
In the final moments of the title-clinching game, it was Robinson who fought off the best efforts of the Spurs to grab an offensive rebound — his greatest skill — to help put the series away.
Josh Hart, speaking with Leon Rose on the “Roommates Show” podcast, said, “That Mitch offensive rebound off my missed free throw at the end of the game was the biggest rebound you’re probably going to see.”
Robinson — one of the most interesting free agents on the market, a player who could be a starting center somewhere else with more value than his backup role in New York — has been with the Knicks longer than any other player on the roster, arriving before this front office took charge, and it would be costly to keep him.
He just finished off a four-year, $60 million contract that paid descending salaries, finishing at $12.9 million this season. With approximately $17 million available below the second apron — and four other roster spots to fill even if they bring Robinson back — it’s hard to figure out how the Knicks can find common ground without going into the second apron, necessitating a pay cut to keep him unless they have other moves to make.
Asked about his impending free agency during the season, Robinson repeatedly said that is in the hands of his agents.
While due a significant raise, Shamet would seem to be a more feasible fit, but the Knicks did select a 6-6 wing who is a perimeter shooting threat in Tyler Nickel and did nothing to provide insurance at center. Ariel Hukporti and Trey Jemison, the only centers behind Robinson, are free agents.
With the NBA Draft complete, the Knicks dodged adding the cost of a first-round pick, dealing out of their 24th overall pick. They instead drafted at Nos. 39 and 47 — players who can either fill the back end of the roster on low-cost second-round minimum contracts or two-way deals or, in the case of Jack Kayil, be stashed overseas.
Jose Alvarado agreed to push back the date on his $4.5 million player option to Friday. Mo Diawara is close to an agreement that would keep him in the fold at a low-cost starting price.
But none of these moves will free up enough cap space below the second apron, if the Knicks really are determined to avoid entering that level, to keep Robinson and Shamet, the two main pieces. The problem is that if they lose one, it’s not as if they can sign a $20 million center or a $15 million wing.
The Knicks won the title, led by Jalen Brunson, but with a deep team that could beat you in so many ways.
The front office certainly deserves the benefit of the doubt, left to either figure out a way through the math or to find suitable replacements, after building a team that won the title. The work that they did over the last five years resulted in the parade. Now the work begins to find a way back.
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
