The Knicks are rolling, winners of five straight after taking down the potent Nuggets on Wednesday night, and BT believes the pieces are there for New York to make a title run.
But the Knicks still need that final piece, and Mitchell Robinson would be it, but BT isn’t taking a chance on the oft-injured center, who hasn’t played since last year’s playoffs and hasn’t been cleared for contact after ankle surgery.
“The Knicks, without Mitchell Robinson, while they will be fun, will not win a championship,” BT said. They just won’t. They will not win an NBA championship without Mitchell Robinson.
“Once you get cleared for contact, you have to make sure there’s no setbacks. And then you have to make sure he can lock it in and stay healthy for the next three months of high-impact, high-intensity basketball. And I’m sorry, I’m not willing to take a chance on this.”
So, if the Knicks need a player like Robinson to fortify the frontcourt and set themselves up for a title, but BT is convinced that the lifelong Knick can’t stay healthy, what should Leon Rose do? Perhaps try and move him for another big that can at least be counted on to play every day, even if that player doesn’t have the same defensive or rebounding prowess as Robinson.
“This is not a cute little story...the Knicks have put themselves in position to be in position to win a championship,” BT said. “What’s the one thing that can derail that? To me, it’s lack of depth in the frontcourt...I’m not waiting. I’m sorry. I know half of you love Mitchell Robinson...he’s a good Knick, but he’s an unreliable Knick. Physically unreliable.
“A lot of you are so enamored with Mitch that it blurs your sense of reality...I’m not gonna get fooled again with Mitchell Robinson. I would love this team if I knew Mitchell Robinson was physically reliable. I don’t, and that’s why I’m making a trade.”