The New York Knicks will be without starting center Mitchell Robinson until December or January, according to multiple reports on Monday.
Robinson suffered a foot injury that required surgery in May but has still not fully recovered from the procedure. The limited progress has forced the team to exercise an abundance of caution regarding the 26-year-old, whose NBA career has been littered with injuries.
Over the past four years, he has played in more than 60 games just once.
Last season saw a dominant offensive-rebounding campaign derailed by a stress fracture in his left ankle that required surgery in December, forcing him to miss 50 straight games. He made it back in time for the playoffs but injured his foot during New York’s first-round series against the Philadelphia 76ers.
The 7-footer’s absence will be a significant one to address, especially after the Knicks lost their backup center, Isaiah Hartenstein, who performed admirably during Robinson’s absence last season, to the Oklahoma City Thunder in free agency.
Jericho Sims, who has averaged just 14.1 minutes per game over three NBA seasons, and Precious Achiuwa, who prefers to play power forward, would see a bulk of the minutes at the 5 if team president Leon Rose does not hit the market to acquire a stop-gap.
