NBA Notes: Knicks, Mitchell Robinson, Nets, Kobe Bufkin, Rockets

Knicks

Mitchell Robinson is heading into the final year of his deal — worth just under $13 million –but the Knicks center isn’t sweating whether he starts or comes off the bench in 2025–26.

“Nah. It don’t matter to me at all,” Robinson told reporters Thursday, via Kristian Winfield of The New York Daily News. “I started before. I came off the bench before. I did great in both. So it’s whatever.”

Robinson’s role shifted late last season as he worked his way back from ankle surgery. After initially coming off the bench, he reclaimed his starting spot for the final four games of the Eastern Conference Finals against Indiana.

New coach Mike Brown praised the 7-footer’s rebounding presence — calling him a “monster on the glass” — but hasn’t committed to a starting lineup yet.

“Ideally, it would be great to have everybody’s role defined before the first game,” Brown said. “Now, they can change throughout the course of the season, but hopefully going into Game 1, we as coaches … get to a point where we have everybody’s role defined. And not only that, but they embrace it.”

Nets

The Nets made an eyebrow-raising move this offseason, trading for guard Kobe Bufkin despite drafting three point guard prospects (Egor Demin, Nolan Traore and Ben Saraf) in the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft.

Coach Jordi Fernandez brushed off the apparent logjam, saying there’s no such thing as too many creators.

“I don’t think you ever have enough ball-handlers, right? Making plays for others is always important,” Fernandez said, via the New York Post’s Brian Lewis.

Brooklyn’s interest in Bufkin actually goes back a few years. The Nets were high on him in the 2023 draft, but the former Michigan standout went No. 15 overall — six picks before Brooklyn landed Noah Clowney.

Bufkin’s ties to new Nets assistant Juwan Howard, his former college coach, only added to the appeal.

“Obviously Juwan knows the guy, and everything was very positive between Juwan, who knows him and speaks highly and positively about him,” Fernandez said. “We also have our scouting department that knew him. We were very high on him during the draft, and it was an opportunity to bring him in.

“So you put all that together, and that’s the reason why he’s here.”

Bufkin, meanwhile, is embracing the reunion.

“It’s definitely a big level of comfort. (Howard) is like family,” he said. “I spent two years with him. He was a mentor for me, kind of taught me about the league before I got to the league, what to expect, what not to expect. So it was good to see him.”

Rockets

The Rockets aren’t rushing to add another guard in the wake of Fred VanVleet’s torn ACL, according to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line. Instead, Houston plans to give Reed Sheppard and Amen Thompson expanded on-ball responsibilities to see how they respond.

Fischer notes the team could revisit the idea of adding backcourt depth later in the season — likely after December 15, when most recently signed free agents become trade-eligible.

Meanwhile, there’s still an expectation that Kevin Durant will eventually sign an extension with Houston. But the same clarity doesn’t exist with Tari Eason, whose potential rookie-scale deal remains up in the air.

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