Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau says Mitchell Robinson has not yet been ruled out for the season — even though the front office made a move suggesting the organization may believe otherwise.
Robinson, who suffered a stress fracture his left ankle in the Knicks’ Dec. 8 loss to the Boston Celtics, underwent a successful surgery and will be re-evaluated in eight-to-10 weeks.
However, the team applied for the NBA’s Disabled Player Exception, which is only granted if a player is evaluated by three independent league doctors and deemed more than likely out of commission until June 15.
The Knicks have not yet been granted this exception for their starting center. It is worth half the salary of the player who suffered a season-ending injury — in this case: $7.8 million of Robinson’s $15.6 million salary.
If the NBA grants the Knicks the exception, they can use it either in a trade or to sign a free agent. If they are granted the exception and use it, Robinson can still rejoin the team if he defies the odds and recovers from his injury in time.
“He’s being re-evaluated. So he had the surgery. [It was] successful and it’s a normal process,” Thibodeau said after Knicks practice on Friday. “So once he’s re-evaluated, you have more information, and you have a good idea of what will transpire.”
Thibodeau deferred to the front office when questioned why the team would apply for the exception if it does not believe Robinson would be out for the year.
“That’s all speculation. To me, I think that would be more of a Leon [Rose] question,” he said. “They have to do all the things they need to do, their due diligence on every possibility. So I think that’s where that lies.”
The absence of a concrete Robinson timeline, however, falls second to Robinson’s absence in its totality.
New York’s starting center may average fewer than seven points per game, but he averaged close to four screen assists that generated 8.5 points per game for his teammates before his injury. He leads the NBA in offensive rebounding and reigns as a superior shot blocker despite his modest average of 1.3 swats per game.
Robinson’s impact stretches far beyond the bounds of any stat sheet.
Rolling to the rim doesn’t get him an assist, a hockey assist or a screen assist, but the lob threat forces the defense to collapse — which creates an extra second or two for any one of a number of three-point-happy Knicks shooters.
There’s no stat for almost-blocks, either, but that impact is reflected in opponent field goal percentage. It also shows in opponent shot profile: Teams try to attack the Knicks at the rim, only to have second guesses later in a game because Big Mitch is clogging the lane.
Well — was clogging the lane.
The Knicks are figuring out what this new iteration of the team looks like.
One takeaway: The team is high on Jericho Sims, the training camp standout who got the starting nod before turning his ankle on a jump ball in the loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Sims can jump out of the gym, and while he may not have the same impact on the glass or as a rim protector as Robinson, the Knicks like his youthful energy and his ability as a lob threat.
Thibodeau said Sims “is walking around,” suggesting the third-year big man spent some time immobilized by his injury.
“It’s a little better each day,” he said. “So we’ll see where he is in a week to 10 days.”
Can Sims, however, thrive in high-pressure minutes? Can he fare well in matchups against brute-strength bigs?
Thibodeau said he has “a lot” of confidence in Sims to play quality minutes at the five.
The bouncy big man also underwent surgery to repair a torn labrum and cuff tendon in his right shoulder in April.
Sims started four games after Robinson’s injury and prior to his own. He finished with 14 rebounds and one block in 74 minutes of play.
“I think sometimes when you look at what he’s done, the way he played last year and then he had surgery this summer, too,” said Thibodeau. “So, I think the more he plays, the better he’s going to play. I see him every day. He’s improved a lot from a year ago also. So just get out there, get the job done.”
“Obviously last game [Jericho] played, he was hurt,” added Julius Randle, who spoke after practice in Tarrytown on Friday. “In the games he did [play], I was not surprised, but [I was] impressed with how well he stepped right into playing starting minutes, the starter’s position.”
Sims, of course, is still a week to 10 days out.
Without him, and without Robinson, the Knicks will lean heavily on Isaiah Hartenstein and Taj Gibson.
Gibson joked he nearly passed out in his first dose of extended minutes against the Nets on Wednesday when asked out of the game so he could catch his breath.
Hartenstein is averaging 31 minutes per game over the last five and has never averaged more than 20 minutes in a season.
Neither option seems sustainable — but the Knicks only need to ride both until Sims returns. Then they get a better look at what they have.
Sustainability went out the window when Robinson suffered his freak injury.
The Knicks are in survival mode.
They have to survive the next 10 days — a daunting schedule with nothing but playoff-bound teams — without two of their three best centers. And when Sims returns from injury, they’ll have to survive the duration of Robinson’s absence — however long that may be.
There’s no individual player who can replace Robinson’s impact.
Hartenstein’s not athletic enough. Sims isn’t strong or experienced enough. Gibson is 38 years old. And Randle can — and likely will see some minutes — at the small ball five, but his talents are best suited at the four, where he plays.
“It is next man up. And the only thing that really we need to do is just kind of collectively be better,” said Jalen Brunson. “We can’t just ask one guy to fill his position. You [have] to be [connected] as a team and adjust the way you need to adjust and just go from there.”
One thing is certain: Without Robinson, an already slim margin for error just shrunk in size.
His ability to protect the rim and clean the glass covered a number of Knicks mistakes this season.
Mistakes they can no longer afford to make without Big Mitch’s Big Presence on the floor.
“As a team, our communication on defense. Being in spots early. Just really helping each other out,” said Randle. “We’ve been able to get away with a lot of things [because of the way he] protects the rim. … Offensively, obviously, he’s a lob threat, offensive rebounding to create those extra opportunities for us, so it’s tough. We have to do it as a collective.”
