Knicks center Mitchell Robinson appears to be nearing a return from the ankle injury that has sidelined him since early December, writes Tim Bontemps of ESPN. Head coach Tom Thibodeau spoke to reporters before Monday’s victory over Denver and provided a positive update on Robinson’s progress.
“Mitchell is moving quite well,” Thibodeau said. “He’s cleared for contact and all that. He’s going through practices and so just needs a little more time. But he’s doing really well overall.”
Forward OG Anunoby participated in parts of Monday’s shootaround, while Julius Randle (shoulder) continues to do controlled contact work but has yet to be cleared for live contact drills. Given that the reports on Anunoby and Randle were more mixed than the one on Robinson, a reporter asked Thibodeau if the center will be the first of the three players to return.
“Assuming your assumption is correct, yes,” Thibodeau cryptically replied.
Here’s more on the Knicks:
- Jalen Brunson has now played in 65 games this season, ensuring that he’ll be eligible for end-of-season awards such as All-NBA. As Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets, Brunson can’t qualify for a super-max contract since he signed with the Knicks as a free agent, but he’ll be eligible this July to sign an extension that could be worth up to $156.5MM over four years.
- As effective as Josh Hart has been for the Knicks this season, he has become an unreliable three-point shooter, making only 30.4% of his long-distance attempts this season after hitting 35.0% in his first six NBA seasons. According to Peter Botte of The New York Post, Hart and his former Pelicans teammate JJ Redick have already made plans to work this offseason on Hart’s outside shot. “At some point in the summer I’ll pull up to the Hamptons,” the Knicks wing said on Monday. “Shoot, get in the gym with him. Drink wine with him. He can bring all the wine. Because he’s rich. And just enjoy.”
- Evan Fournier previously shared the Knicks’ franchise record for three-pointers in a game with 10, but saw that record erased on Monday when Donte DiVincenzo knocked down 11 treys against his Pistons. With 234 three-pointers in 2023/24, DiVincenzo is also poised to break Fournier’s record of 241 made threes in a season. “Not at all surprising, to be honest with you,” Fournier told Botte after the game. “He’s definitely found his role, and congrats to him. He has great chemistry with these guys, especially (Brunson), and he’s very smart as far as finding the pocket for a three and he has such a quick release. … He’s having a hell of a season and he deserves (the record). He’s honestly the perfect fit for how they play, and I am happy for him.”
- Struggling guard Alec Burks sat out Monday’s game due to a sprained right shoulder, notes Stefan Bondy of The New York Post. It’s unclear how much Burks’ shoulder injury has factored into his shooting struggles since joining the Knicks. He’s shooting just 32.0% from the field since the trade deadline.
Dude give Fournier a break lol talk about salt in the wound
It is refreshing to hear a guy not holding a grudge over bad blood, though. I like how Fournier handled it all.
His beef is with Knicks management. I don’t recall ever hearing a bad word about a player from him.
My point is more that it’s like “Hey remember when you were irrelevant on the knicks? Guess what, one of your (probably only?) records just got broken by your replacement! How does it feel to be even more irrelevant? And how about that weather in Detroit…”
Take a good look at the New York Knicks. Love these guys right now. An actual “team” with a “coach”. They have a point guard and a center. Most NBA teams used to look like this before ESPN and Adam Silver starting playing with the rules for “entertainment” and $$$ purposes. It is not just the big man that has been removed, but the “point guard” as well. Replaced by the point, rebound, assist stat stuffing guy who makes all the decisions.
Relax lol…. every team has a seven footer. PG play is changing. But a real PG still is the way.
Agreed. But there is a difference between having a 7’er and actually playing a traditional center
Days of traditional center have changed. But a center rim protector and Reb. Is still an effective option to have. As Mitch Robinson has proved. Even Hartenstein is more a traditional center.
Every team who is top 4 in each conference has at least one traditional center who is 6’10” or taller. The fact that some of them can shoot 3’s doesn’t really change that their primary role is to protect the rim, grab bunches of rebounds, and attack off lobs, pick-and-roll, and in the post. Dallas and NO also have the same thing in Gafford and Valančiūnas, plus Philly with (healthy) Embiid and Phoenix with Nurkic. Sabonis is kind of borderline since he spends so much time playmaking and can’t really defend, but he’s pretty traditional in his scoring.
NYK medical reports on the 3 injured guys aren’t (collectively) encouraging from the standpoint of the NYK season. Mitch is the guy who needs the least amount of time to incorporate back into the current group, so his timeline might align with the team’s needs. With the other 2, if they’re not back in the next week or so, their returns might well create as many issues as they solve. OG, you’d think not, but the injury is to his shooting elbow and he didn’t shoot well in his initial return. I doubt his rehab has him taking a lot of shots. Randle is obviously the hardest to predict. He can be a wildcard even when completely heathly. Him playing compromised has hurt us in the past (like the first couple weeks of this season), and this time it would be after a mid-year layoff.
OG shot the hell out of the ball when he returned. It’s when he tweaked the arm that he began to struggle, and eventually got benched to rest it. As for Randle, it’s his non-shooting arm, so I’m not overly concerned about the injury as I am about the rust. But it’s better to have him on the court pulling in defenders as long as…as you mentioned, become the wildcard and go off the rails by forcing shots that don’t exist.
I was concerned with OG’s distance shooting (he was back 3 games, and I forgot the numbers, but I hope it’s not an issue). Randle’s shot is not a concern (he’s not overshooting the 3 this year). With Randle, my concern (in addition to rust) is the injury will affect his physicality, which, IMO, more than any stat is the biggest thing he brings to the team. Neither is a big issue if they’re coming back next week. But dropping them (particularly Randle) into a competitive playoff series midstream is to me potentially problematic.
Good point on the physicality for Randle since he’s a big source of defensive rebounds. Crossing fingers!
Knicks are Thibs team. They play both ways. Try and play a smart gm then close out. This team is still getting use to its depth. I’m glad they are playing. Cause we will need whole team for playoffs.
Remember Knicks are missing three starters. Mitch, OG, Randle.
During Pistons game. Pistons announcers talked about Thibs a lot. Said “Donte has green light to shoot. If he chases loose balls and rebs.
In Thibs we Trust ……