Surprising Team Linked to Trade for Knicks’ Mitchell Robinson

The New York Knicks recently made a major addition to their frontcourt, swinging a trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves to acquire Karl-Anthony Towns.

But could the arrival of Towns result in the exit of Mitchell Robinson?

Speculation has been building toward the Knicks potentially trying to off-load their oft-injured big man, and Bleacher Report’s Grant Hughes has listed the Utah Jazz as a potential destination for Robinson.

“If the Knicks want to cut their payroll and add depth after adding Karl-Anthony Towns, maybe the Jazz could offer up Walker Kessler and Jordan Clarkson or John Collins in a package that brought back a future first and several seconds for Robinson,” Hughes wrote.

The question is, would the Jazz do this?

No one doubts Robinson’s talent when he is healthy, but that’s just the thing: he is frequently not healthy, and he is actually slated to miss the first couple of months of the 2024-25 NBA campaign due to offseason ankle surgery.

Meanwhile, Kessler has transformed himself into a very capable member of Utah’s frontline and is coming off of an impressive season in which he averaged 8.1 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.4 blocks over 23.3 minutes per game while shooting 65.4 percent from the floor.

Robinson’s ceiling may be higher, but Kessler is younger and does not have the same checkered injury history.

Plus, the Jazz’s frontcourt is fairly crowded as it is. Utah has Kessler, Collins, youngsters Taylor Hendricks and Brice Sensabaugh, and, of course, Lauri Markkanen up front.

Robinson wouldn’t really be a necessary acquisition for Utah, especially given the fact that he has tremendous difficulty staying on the floor.

The 26-year-old played in just 31 games last season, averaging 5.6 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.1 blocks across 24.8 minutes a night while making 57.5 percent of his shots.

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