Mitchell Robinson is a promising young center for the New York Knicks. During the 2020-21 season, Robinson averaged 8.3 PPG and 8.1 RPG, along with 1.5 BPG in only 27 MPG. There’s no question that Mitchell Robinson has shown flashes as a shot-blocker and defender, and the New York Knicks would do well to lock up the talented center to an extension.
According to Marc Berman of the New York Post, the New York Knicks are open to extending Mitchell Robinson before the start of next season, provided the extension isn’t “crazy”. It was also reported by Berman that league insiders believe that Mitchell Robinson’s current value merits a four-year $44 million extension.
According to an NBA source, Knicks president Leon Rose is now open to a contract extension for the 23-year-old Robinson before the Oct. 20 season opener “as long as it’s not crazy.”
NBA intelligentsia regard the four-year, $54 million contract extension the Celtics lavished last week on center Robert Williams as an outlier and not commensurate with market standards considering Williams’ light résumé.
The Knicks are not believed to want to go that high. One concern will always be whether the New Orleans product will lose a trace of motivation with all that guaranteed money.
League insiders consider Robinson’s current value — given his injury-riddled past — more in the four-year, $44 million range. A sweetener is giving Robinson a player option for the fourth year.
That pact is essentially a deal that would start a little higher than the mid-level exception in 2022. Next season, Robinson stands to make just $1.8 million after signing a team-friendly four-year deal out of the draft.
There’s no doubt that Mitchell Robinson is probably worth that, especially as he could improve a lot during the course of that extension. While the New York Knicks may be open to doing the extension, nothing is official just yet, and we’ll see whether the Knicks do indeed decided to reward Robinson with a long-term contract.
