The New York Knicks will likely not have Mitchell Robinson for the rest of the 2023-24 NBA season as revealed by Shams Charania of The Athletic. With New York absorbing such an injury blow, they have reportedly asked the NBA for Disabled Player Exception.

“The New York Knicks have applied to the NBA for a Disabled Player Exception worth $7.8 million as the franchise projects center Mitchell Robinson will miss the rest of the season. Major development as Robinson had ankle surgery last week,” Charania wrote.

Robinson was initially deemed out for several weeks after he went under the knife to repair his ankle injury, but it appears that it will take much longer for him to heal up. Should the Knicks secure the grant from the NBA to use the Disabled Player Exception, they can use that to add depth to their roster, perhaps to their frontcourt in particular.

Up to this point of the season, Mitchell Robinson is still the Knicks' leader in rebounds and blocks with 10.3 and 1.3 per game, respectively. As a team, the Knicks entered Wednesday averaging just 3.3 blocks per contest and with just a 3.8 percent block rate — both just 29th in the league overall — so Robinson's absence only makes the team much more vulnerable defensively, especially around the rim.

On top of Robinson's injury is the absence of another Knicks big man Jericho Sims because of a foot injury as well. That leaves the Knicks with Isaiah Hartenstein mostly manning the middle with veteran Taj Gibson also seeing more action.