Knicks Could Trade Mitchell Robinson Soon

New York Knicks center Mitchell Robinson is going into the final year of his contract, which will force the front office to take some action.

The Knicks could re-sign Robinson, but there's likely an equal chance of a trade coming before the next offseason.

Forbes contributor Tom Rende explained why the Knicks would choose to move on from Robinson.

"The best lineup configuration for the Knicks is to have Karl-Anthony Towns at the center position in order to maximize the effectiveness of the team’s offense," Rende wrote.

"New York had the 2nd best offensive rating in the NBA over the first 41 games last season with Towns only playing the center position. Things changed over the back half of the year for a variety of reasons, but one was a failure to maximize Towns at the five when non-centers were guarding him. The hope is that Brown finds the magic elixir that allows the Knicks to thrive with a dominant offense that highlights the best traits of Towns at center."

"The organization is fixated on winning a championship and part of that calculation is keeping players on board that can help them reach that goal. Robinson has shown plenty of promise, but has failed to consistently make it to the court to prove it. He has missed over 100 regular season games over the past two years, which doesn’t include the seven games he missed during the playoffs in 2024. His durability has always been a question, and that becomes even more a part of the calculation as he becomes older."

Recency bias favors Robinson after a strong playoff run, but injuries have been a large part of his career and it's something to think about when negotiating a new deal.

Robinson has to play well in the upcoming season in order to keep his spot on the roster, but he has a chance to be traded if he doesn't play up to his contract.