The New York Knicks were dealt a big blow roughly a couple of weeks ago when center Mitchell Robinson suffered a season-ending ankle injury. New York has applied for a Disabled Player Exception, which would grant them $7.8 million to use to sign a veteran for one season or acquire a player with one year left on their contract via trade. It would make sense for the Knicks to use that to add more depth to their frontcourt. A couple of players stand out as potential options.
Robinson may not be a star player, and backup center Isaiah Hartenstein has played very well in his stead ever since the injury occurred, but make no mistake about it: this is a big deal. With Robinson on the floor, the Knicks have an offensive rebounding percentage of 35.2% according to Cleaning the Glass. When he isn't on the floor, that number drops to about 30.7%.
The Knicks actually have a better net rating when Mitchell Robinson is off the floor as opposed to when he is on it, but that is likely due to the Knicks' strong bench beating up on other bench units. Robinson is by far the Knicks' best defensive big man and is a one-man battering ram on the offensive glass to help the Knicks — not a great shooting team — get second possessions and beat up opposing teams.
Here are the Knicks' best options to replace Mitchell Robinson after his injury if they're granted the $7.8 million Disabled Player Exception.
Nerlens Noel
The Knicks and head coach Tom Thibodeau went back to his security blanket and signed Taj Gibson days after Robinson's injury. But Gibson is also 38 years old and a bit undersized at 6-9 232 pounds to anchor a defense nowadays.
Perhaps Thibodeau can bring back another big man he's coached with the Knicks in Nerlens Noel. Noel was a pivotal member of the Knicks when they made the playoffs back in the 2020-21 season where he started 41 games that season and played in 64 of a possible 72 games.
Noel has since battled injuries and hasn't been able to latch onto a team. He's played only 42 games in the last three seasons. But Noel has familiarity with the Knicks, head coach Tom Thibodeau and his defensive scheme, and has a similar frame and game to Robinson as a rim-running, rim-protecting center.
Noel is currently a free agent. It wouldn't cost the Knicks anything to bring him in and they could use the Disabled Player Exception to sign Noel if they are granted it. Under the circumstances, the Knicks could definitely do worse than bringing back Noel.
Andre Drummond
Andre Drummond is not the defensive anchor that Mitchell Robinson is, but he definitely is the force on the glass that Robinson is. There is only one player in the NBA that has a higher offensive rebounding percentage than Robinson this season according to NBA.com. That player? Andre Drummond. Robinson gobbled up 16.9% of the available rebounds after a Knicks miss, while Drummond sits atop the league at 19.1%.
Logistically, it works because Drummond is signed on a one-year deal with the Chicago Bulls, where he has been very productive. Drummond only plays about 13 minutes per game, but his numbers extrapolated on a per-36 minutes basis come out to 16.8 points and 10.8 rebounds.
It shouldn't take a lot for the Bulls to part with Drummond either. If they're having talks to blow things up and trade Alex Caruso, Zach LaVine, and/or DeMar DeRozan, they likely won't stop with the 30-year-old Andre Drummond, especially if they can land a second-round pick or two. The Bulls would get more draft picks, the Knicks get a stopgap who can help maintain their style of play. That seems like a win for everyone involved.
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