Knicks’ Mitchell Robinson Targeting January Return From Injury

October 10, 2024

Knicks center Mitchell Robinson is eyeing a January return after undergoing two ankle surgeries in the past year, per NBA insider Shams Charania of ESPN.

The Knicks and Robinson are in no rush, and for good reason. He played just 31 games last season, and his absence in the playoffs was felt — especially during their second-round Eastern Conference playoff loss to the Pacers.

Robinson’s defensive impact has been well-documented, with coach Tom Thibodeau praising him as the team’s backbone on that end. But with Robinson out, the Knicks are turning to Karl-Anthony Towns, their new big acquisition, and Jericho Sims to hold down the center spot.

Towns offers offensive versatility that Robinson doesn’t, but defensively, he’s nowhere near the same presence.

New York had to address its frontcourt after losing last year’s starter Isaiah Hartenstein to the Thunder in NBA free agency, where he signed a three-year, $87 million deal.

Adding Towns certainly helps, but Robinson’s rim protection and defensive instincts will be missed until he’s back. If the Knicks want to compete deep into the playoffs, we can all assume they will need a healthy Robinson patrolling the paint come January.

As for Towns, who made his preseason debut on Wednesday, the Knicks had reportedly been after him for some time, per Charania.

“The Knicks were really pursuing Karl-Anthony Towns, and this has been ongoing for over the last year or two. He’s been a guy of interest,” Charania said on the Throwbacks podcast. “You think about Donovan Mitchell, you think about Karl-Anthony Towns.

“Obviously, they were able to get Jalen Brunson, they got Mikal Bridges kind of quietly during draft week. This pursuit of Karl-Anthony Towns really picked up steam over the last week or two when the Knicks started calling Minnesota about him, making offers, making concepts of offers. They were just given hard ‘no’s’– repeatedly.”