The New York Knicks have had a very successful offseason so far. They moved on from most of their bad contracts to make room to sign Jalen Brunson from the Dallas Mavericks. While they have given up pick equity to make room for Brunson, they’ve also amassed a strong haul of picks over the years.
The Knicks hadn’t signed any of their rookies to a rookie extension since 1994, a shocking fact in the modern NBA, where building talent through the draft is often considered the best strategy for success. Not extending a single rookie in almost 30 years is a massive aberration that we do not see in the league that often.
The Knicks’ streak has finally ended as they extended center Mitchell Robinson even after some injury-riddled years, to a 4-year, $60 million contract. New York Knicks President Leon Rose commented on the extension to Robinson and called him one of the key members of the foundation of the team.
Knicks announce Mitchell Robinson has been re-signed. Team president Leon Rose says that the club is ‘ecstatic’ to have Robinson, a ‘key member of our foundation’, back: pic.twitter.com/YuciIWvQhY
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) July 12, 2022
“We are ecstatic that Mitchell Robinson, a key member of our foundation, has signed a long-term extension. He’s our defensive anchor, our rim protector, and someone our organization has seen grow tremendously both on and off the court over the last four seasons,” said Rose.
Robinson is one of the most efficient scorers in NBA history, but you’d be mistaken to think his skill-set is even remotely geared towards being offensive. He is an old-school center in terms of his ability to protect the rim with the lack of a very developed offensive arsenal.
Robinson is very capable of converting easy finishes at the rim on a regular basis while also being the last line of defense for the squad. He could’ve gotten a bigger contract if not for his injury woes, but this is a solid contract as the Knicks have finally started committing to building a winning team in the present and the future.
