Knicks free agent Mitchell Robinson agrees to three-year deal with Celtics, sources say
Knicks center Mitchell Robinson looks on against Golden State in the first half of an NBA game at Madison Square Garden on March 15. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
On a spreadsheet in some office never seen by the public it’s easy to imagine the numbers crunched and the facts laid out in glaring reality. In one column, the Knicks' payroll figures and the daunting number at the bottom, totaling the salaries and the small remaining cap room below the second apron.
And on the other side there is the cost to retain a backup center, a player with obvious flaws, a number that far exceeds the available cap space. In stark numbers it’s simple math — you let that player walk.
But the numbers on the page and simple description of a role would never really tell you what Mitchell Robinson meant to the Knicks and what the loss will feel like now with the 28-year-old, absurdly unique veteran gone.
Robinson became the cap casualty in the Knicks' efforts to run back the rotation pieces that brought the Knicks their first NBA title in 53 years. He was the longest-tenured Knicks player, the one connection from the dismal years when 17-65 seasons were a reality to the championship and the parade ride down the Canyon of Heroes. And now he’s gone, agreeing to a three-year, $47.4 million deal to jump to the rival Boston Celtics according to league sources. Add to it that the Knicks' third-string center, Ariel Hukporti, agreed to a one-year deal worth $3.4 million to jump to the Philadelphia 76ers, and the Knicks have a hole to fill.
Robinson confirmed his move to the Celtics on his Instagram account.
“Life a climb but, the view’s great," Robinson wrote. "New York Knicks fans and the whole Knicks organization, the past 8 years have been the highlight of my life. I can’t thank you guys enough for the journey and opportunities. I know it’s a lot of emotions going around trust me I feel it myself But I will always have love for where it all started! I love you and will miss you! Once a Knick always a Knick."
Robinson was the backup to Karl-Anthony Towns, but seemed more valuable than that description. He spent eight seasons in New York after arriving as a second-round pick who’d never played college ball. He established himself as the best offensive rebounder in the game and an athletic rim protector who often was on the floor in the most crucial moments of the game, making offensive/defensive switches with Towns.
Robinson, while limited in his range, set an NBA single-season record for field goal percentage in the 2019-20 season when he connected on 74.2% of his attempts and displaced Wilt Chamberlain from the record books. He is also the NBA's career postseason leader in offensive rebounds per 36 minutes (6.7) and was first this season at 7.7 per 36 minutes.
More than numbers though were the moments. When the Knicks truly began these contending years it was Robinson who helped set the tone as he dominated the heralded Cleveland Cavaliers front court. This season, he helped the sweep of the76ers, slamming a lob dunk that sent Joel Embiid crashing to the floor. And in the final moments of the decisive Game 5 of the NBA Finals, he fought through Victor Wembanyama for what teammate Josh Hart said, “That Mitch offensive rebound off my missed free throw at the end of the game was the biggest rebound you’re probably going to see.”
But the Knicks' ability to keep him in New York was a math problem since Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan declared in an interview on WFAN even before Robinson had rode his treasured pickup truck along the parade route celebrating the Knicks championship that the Knicks would not go into the second apron.
“If we could bring back the whole team exactly as it is, why wouldn’t you?” Dolan said. “. . . We’re willing to stretch, but there’s certain things in the NBA that you’d have to be suicidal to do and we’re not going to do those, One of them is the second apron. Cannot go into the second apron.”
The Knicks had just $8.6 million available under the second apron after signing Landry Shamet Monday. Already having returned Jose Alvarado and Mo Diawara, that left just Robinson and Jordan Clarkson as rotation pieces who were still awaiting their status. Clarkson could still return on a low-cost deal, but Robinson wasn’t going to settle for a discount at 28 years old, likely on his last large contract.
The Knicks now have to secure a replacement and are left with either trying to fill the gap with a low-cost, veteran minimum type player — possibly New Orleans' Kevon Looney, Nick Richards of the Bulls or even Andre Drummond, who became expendable in Philadelphia — or scraping together additional cap space if they can remove one of the contracts on the little-used roster pieces like Pacome Dadiet or Tyler Kolek. But there are few players available still on the market that merit creating more cap space, moves that would have seemed suited to trying to retain Robinson.
And the Knicks' decision to choose Shamet, who came much cheaper than Robinson, agreeing to a four-year, $24 million deal, is understandable with some frustration with the flaws of Robinson and the risk of his long injury history. He became almost a folk hero in New York, bringing his country sensibilities to the city, and when mic’d up by the NBA his comedic routines became public.
But he seemed to know the end was coming, dropping the jokes in the hours after the title.
“Dream come true,” Robinson said that night. “I have been here when we had won 17 games, we won 60 games, and to finally be able to get it done in 2026 after all the journey I've been on with the team and stuff like that, it's just been amazing. This is an amazing feeling. I'm pretty sure every basketball player wants to feel like this, and we got it.
“I see the recipe being made to finally get this thing done, you know. Had a lot of great players come through there and stuff like that. To be a part of this and again to be an NBA champion, today, it's insane.”
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
