Insider: Teams Calling About Knicks Center’s Health

There’s a lot of hullabaloo going around a certain New York Knicks center, also, Isaiah Hartenstein faces his former team tonight.

In a mailbag published in anticipation of the Knicks’ touted showdown with Hartenstein and the Oklahoma City Thunder (8 p.m. ET, MSG/NBA TV), Ian Begley of SNY addressed questions surrounding the metropolitan fate of the tenured Mitchell Robinson.

Begley revealed that New York opponents have asked about Robinson’s availability in a trade — but that the big man’s injury situation makes it difficult to gauge anything.

“Several teams have been inquiring about Robinson’s health. So that tells you that teams would have interest in trading for Robinson if they knew he was going to be healthy,” Begley reported. “When healthy, Robinson is one of the best offensive rebounders in the NBA. The 26-year-old is under contract through next season.”

“So it makes sense that he would have trade strong trade value if healthy. But the three teams I’ve talked to recently didn’t have clarity on Robinson’s health. So it seems like the Knicks — and any team with interest in trading for Robinson — will have to wait and see how his rehab plays out before making any concrete decisions about his future.”

Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau offered a somewhat optimistic update on Robinson prior to Wednesday’s game against the Utah Jazz: while Robinson has not been cleared to run, Thibodeau was “anticipating” that he could be back in practice “some time this month.”

Robinson, of course, has yet to take the floor in his seventh season as a Knick, as he’s still working off ankle woes that shortened his sixth. The Knicks have nonetheless flourished thanks to Karl-Anthony Towns performing as advertised and then some after coming over in a October trade with Minnesota and Precious Achiuwa handling business on the second unit.

But Robinson has undoubtedly been a major factor behind the Knicks’ recent success, serving as one of the few traditional centers left in the modern Association and providing New York unique advantages in the paint.

Begley said he began the year believing that Robinson would “be moved at some point” but changed his mind when “people in touch with the Knicks came away with the impression that they viewed Robinson as an important part of this year’s team.” A combination of Robinson’s unique impact and the Knicks’ tenuous financial situation (unable to take in more salary than they deal away in a potential trade) appear to give him a certain level of immunity from a move.

“In a perfect world for the Knicks, Robinson comes back and plays at a high level behind Towns (and, at times, alongside Towns),” Begley said. “That’s the clearest path forward for this team. But we’re not there yet. If the Knicks at some point decide that they can’t rely on Robinson coming back, they will probably be forced to replace him via trade.”

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