{"id":691407,"date":"2026-04-01T07:08:30","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T07:08:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/691407\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T07:08:30","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T07:08:30","slug":"mitchell-robinson-touts-his-incredible-knicks-impact-with-unique-free-agency-on-horizon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/691407\/","title":{"rendered":"Mitchell Robinson touts his \u2018incredible\u2019 Knicks impact with unique free agency on horizon"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"New<\/p>\n

Center Mitchell Robinson #23 of the New York Knicks slams the ball during the second half against the Wizards.<\/p>\n

HOUSTON \u2014 Mitchell Robinson will be a unique study in NBA free agency. On one hand, he was only averaging 5.4 points before Tuesday\u2019s game against the Rockets. There aren\u2019t many players who got seriously paid with that type of scoring production.<\/p>\n

But on the other hand, Robinson is, without much debate anymore, the top offensive rebounder in the NBA. He knows his value. He\u2019s been paying attention to it and recited Tuesday his plus-minus numbers as proof.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy impact is always incredible,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Indeed, Robinson, heading into Tuesday, owned the Knicks\u2019 top net rating this season after OG Anunoby. He was No. 1 in the NBA in offensive rebounds per 36 minutes, by a wide margin. He was shooting 72 percent from the field, which included a heavier dose lately off alley-oops from lobs \u2014 especially from Jalen Brunson.<\/p>\n

Apparently Robinson\u2019s teammates finally listened.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe talked about it all year [throwing me lobs for alley-oops],\u201d Robinson said. \u201cThey finally started to throw it a little bit. That\u2019s great.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was flexing that \u201cincredible\u201d impact, as Robinson called it. Perhaps more importantly, he\u2019s largely been healthy. With 58 appearances, he\u2019s already eclipsed the total from the past two seasons combined \u2014 when an injured ankle and conditioning problems kept him off the court.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, he played in his 10th straight regular-season game for the first time since 2023.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel awesome,\u201d Robinson, who is headed into unrestricted free agency this summer, said, \u201cready to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, Robinson\u2019s value in the open market isn\u2019t so simple. There\u2019s his health history and poor foul shooting to consider. Last year, only one center in free agency \u2014 Myles Turner \u2014 got a lot of money, when he completed a sign-and-trade to the Bucks for four years, $109 million. Turner, unlike Robinson, is a shooter. Luke Kornet, a rim-protecting specialist, also got a decent paycheck at four years, $40.7 million.<\/p>\n

\"Center<\/p>\n

Center Mitchell Robinson of the New York Knicks slams the ball during the second half against the Wizards. Jason Szenes \/ New York Post<\/p>\n

In 2024, Nic Claxton (four years, $97 million) and Isaiah Hartenstein (three years, $86 million) enjoyed the biggest paydays among centers. Claxton is probably the best comparison to Robinson but his contract with the Nets is already an overpay.<\/p>\n

The Knicks, as constructed, can afford to re-sign Robinson but it would be more expensive than just the contract since they\u2019re projected to operate next season in the second apron, triggering luxury tax penalties.<\/p>\n

Back in November \u2014 before Robinson proved more durable than anticipated \u2014 Bobby Marks, a former NBA executive and ESPN\u2019s front office insider, noted the Knicks would have no assets to replace Robinson if he walks in free agency, perhaps making them more motivated to retain him. On the open market, Marks predicted Robinson would command the $15 million mid-level exception.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you go outside of your own team [to sign as a free agent], it just becomes a lot more challenging,\u201d Marks told The Post. \u201cTo try to find an offer for someone who averages 20 minutes a night.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite his health and production, Robinson was still averaging just 19.6 minutes before the Rockets game. But he was typically impactful when on the court. And the longest-tenured Knick is gearing up for his fourth playoffs with the franchise.<\/p>\n

\"Mitchell<\/p>\n

Mitchell Robinson #23 of the New York Knicks and T.J. McConnell #9 of the Indiana Pacers battle for the ball during the second quarter at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on March 13, 2026. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Then it\u2019s on to free agency.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is what it is,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to figure that part out when the time comes, brother man.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Center Mitchell Robinson #23 of the New York Knicks slams the ball during the second half against the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":691408,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3774],"tags":[7,896,113,126,3866,949,288,4996,1247,367,6,3269,671,191,2728,741,114,3886,683],"class_list":{"0":"post-691407","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-indiana-pacers","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-free-agency","10":"tag-indiana","11":"tag-indiana-pacers","12":"tag-indianapacers","13":"tag-isaiah-hartenstein","14":"tag-jalen-brunson","15":"tag-luke-kornet","16":"tag-mitchell-robinson","17":"tag-myles-turner","18":"tag-nba","19":"tag-nba-free-agency","20":"tag-nets","21":"tag-new-york-knicks","22":"tag-nic-claxton","23":"tag-og-anunoby","24":"tag-pacers","25":"tag-t-j-mcconnell","26":"tag-wizards"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116328198098607332","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/691407","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=691407"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/691407\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/691408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=691407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=691407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=691407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}