BREAKING: Mitch OUT Until Dec/Jan

The Knicks will be short-handed to start the season.

As first reported by Yaron Weitzman:

Knicks center Mitchell Robinson is not fully recovered from his May foot surgery and will not be ready for the start of the 2024-25 season…

The team is targeting a December/January return, but that depends on his rehab process. The Knicks' priority is to be smart with Robinson's rehab—they do not want to rush him back before he's 100%. The Knicks also maintain that they are confident in the current depth and versatility of their roster.

As a reminder, this recovery stems from surgery for a stress injury to Robinson’s left foot that he suffered in the playoffs, which is the same foot he had surgery on in December.

Lots and lots of thoughts…

In no uncertain terms, this is a massive, massive blow. For all we want to talk about the Knicks’ need to go smaller to reach their full potential and how Robinson’s faults may limit his ability to be on the floor for long stretches of a playoff series against certain teams, he is their only proven NBA center, at least when it comes to the qualities traditionally valued by a Tom Thibodeau-coached team. Without Robinson, New York will be without:

• Elite pick & roll defense

• Elite rim protection

• Uber-elite offensive rebounding

• An excellent lob threat, even if the Knicks haven’t leveraged this skill much lately

All together, for whatever imperfections he has, Robinson is a huge part of New York’s primary identity, which is that they’re a pain in the ass to play on any given night.

And now, he is gone, at least until December, and I’d guess until closer to February considering New York’s reportedly cautious approach, their larger goals for this season, and of course Robinson’s own injury history.

That is what we know. Here’s why we shouldn’t jump off the roof quite yet.