Don't Forget About Mitch Rob

After learning that Isaiah Hartenstein was headed to OKC, many Knicks fans assumed New York would immediately make a corresponding move. 

The inventory of quality bigs on the open market wasn't great initially, and, as detailed in yesterday's post, many of them had already agreed to contracts with other clubs.  

As of this morning, the Knicks still had yet to sign a center. 

Do they plan to make a run at Orlando's Mo Wagner? Are they in continued conversations with Precious Achiuwa? Are they working a trade to bring in a more established starting center? 

We can only speculate at this point. But let's also consider one other possibility: Maybe Leon Rose and company have more faith in Mitchell Robinson than we might suspect.  

It's important to note that although it seems like ages ago, Mitch Rob started the 2023-24 campaign playing arguably the best basketball of his career. 

Over the first five weeks of this past season (a 17-game sample size), Robinson averaged 6.2 points (on 56.6% shooting), 11.6 rebounds (including a league-leading 5.8 offensive boards), 1.4 steals and 1.4 blocks.

Because he was such a key cog in the Knicks' defensive attack that was dominating opponents (NY ranked third in DefEff in October), Robinson was a legit early-season candidate in the Defensive Player of the Year race. During this stretch, no other player in the NBA averaged double-digit rebounds, at least 1.4 blocks, and at least 1.4 steals per game. (The only other players averaging 1.3+ swats and 1.3+ swipes were Victor Wembanyama and Giannis Antetokounmpo.)

Robinson was also immensely impactful on the other end due to his innate ability to crash the glass. When Mitch Rob pulled down his 100th offensive rebound on Nov. 28th, he had 25 more than any player in the league. 

Through the end of November, prior to the ankle injury, Robinson had posted a higher Net Rating than both Hartenstein and Julius Randle.