Could Knicks Trade Mitchell Robinson to Keep Isaiah Hartenstein?

New York Knicks centers Mitchell Robinson and Isaiah Hartenstein will be forever linked in NBA history.

Not only are the pair teammates, but Robinson’s ankle injury that he suffered this season was the beginning of a domino effect that will eventually help Hartenstein land the richest contract of his career thus far.

Hartenstein will sign that contract sometime after June 30, when free agency begins, and there’s reason to believe that team will be the Knicks. However, they may have to trade Robinson in order to keep him.

“The Knicks have his Early Bird Rights, but that only allows them to offer a four-year, $72.5 million deal. He could find more green elsewhere, as Yahoo Sports’ Jake Fischer reported some inside the Association think he could fetch between $80 million and $100 million,” Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley writes. “That feels rich who isn’t a shooter or high-end shot-blocker, though, and some of the win-now teams with money to spend—like the Philadelphia 76ers and Orlando Magic—seem set at center. Look for New York to keep Hartenstein, likely at the maximum it’s allowed to offer, and then to shop around Robinson to avoid owing eight-figure salaries to two centers at once.”

Keeping both Robinson and Hartenstein may not make too much sense if they both combine to make about $30 million annually. That’s why a Robinson trade could be in the cards if Hartenstein were to stay.

Robinson, 26, averaged a career-low 5.6 points this past season while grabbing 8.5 boards per game. He also played in just 31 games, which was also tied for a career-low.

Rival teams in need of a center, like the Memphis Grizzlies or Los Angeles Lakers, could buy low on Robinson in hopes that he returns to form with a new change of scenery.

The Knicks also have two first-round picks and they could certainly utilize one of those to draft a center, and he could emerge as a replacement for whichever player isn’t on the roster next season.

The Big Apple may no longer be big enough for the pair of big men to stay with the Knicks.

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