Mitchell Robinson is many things. He is the longest tenured Knick. He is a defensive force, capable of changing games and playoff series. He is an interesting character. He is the best offensive rebounder in the game. And he is quite possibly better than he’s ever been. Now, I get that he’s played just 49 minutes across three games so far. But those limited minutes, especially the ones that came against the Timberwolves on Wednesday night, have looked good. Really good.
His November 2nd outing against the Bulls wasn’t as strong, but after his dominant masterpiece a couple of days ago, he is now averaging 8.7RPG, 6.3ORPG, and 1.7BPG. Those numbers may not be surprising to some, as Knicks fans have come to expect some ridiculous things from the big man. But his offensive rebounds per game, which admittedly will likely come down, would be a career high by a significant margin, and his blocks per game would be the fourth highest of his career.
What makes all of this even more impressive, though, is the fact that he’s done all of this in just 16.3MPG, which would be the lowest of his career. For reference, as seen above, he is currently averaging an asinine 19.1 rebounds per 36 minutes, 13.9 offensive rebounds per 36 minutes, and 3.7 blocks per game, with the first two of those being career highs by, again, a significant margin. And if you thought that those numbers are comical, you are correct, and Josh Hart agrees.
Let’s take a deeper look and compare him to some of the best rebounders in the league. Heading into Friday night, Robinson ranks 22nd in total offensive rebounds this season. Every single player in the top 25 besides him has played seven or more games, and at the very least, 129 total minutes. He leads all players in offensive rebound percentage at 30.2%, and is second in the league in total rebound percentage at 26.7%.
Another encouraging sign has been the slight uptick in his assists. Robinson has never been, isn’t, and never will be a great, or even good, passing big man. That’s not in his DNA, and it’s honestly not something the Knicks need too much from him, as he is not someone they run the offense through often. But, with new head coach Mike Brown empowering his big men to be more involved, especially as a hub on dribble hand-offs, Robinson has been asked and tasked with more than the usual screening and rolling. The majority of the offense has gone mostly through Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Mikal Bridges, but Robinson is averaging a career-high 1.3 assists. That doesn’t seem like a high number, but he’s never averaged more than 0.9APG, and he played 27MPG that season, 11 more MPG than he currently averages.
Some of that can be attributed to the aforementioned head coaching change, but Robinson has also greatly improved his ability to get rid of the ball after an offensive rebound if a put-back opportunity doesn’t present itself. In the past, Robinson would wait after grabbing an offensive rebound because he would either take too long to get the ball back up or he would take too long looking for an outlet.
That may change over the course of the season as teams look to foul him more, but early on in the season, he’s done an amazing job of kicking it out to shooters in a much more timely and decisive manner. Because of that, shooters like OG Anunoby, Deuce McBride, as well as Brunson, Towns, and Bridges have benefited, and Robinson has also seen himself shoot just one free throw across the 49 minutes, which comes out to just 0.7 free throw attempts per 36, which would also be the lowest of his career.
None of this will matter if he isn’t healthy for the playoffs. But we’ve seen an even limited Robinson be a difference maker. If he can stay healthy and maintain anything even remotely close to this level of play, it greatly improves the Knicks’ chances of raising their first Larry O’Brien trophy in 53 years. For the time being, though, Knicks fans should be ecstatic that their longest tenured player is healthy and playing at an elite level.
