After starting at the center spot in the last three games for the New York Knicks, rookie big man Mitchell Robinson might have just won the role permanently over veteran Enes Kanter.

Robinson got his first start for the team in their match with the Golden State Warriors last week, with Knicks head coach David Fizdale choosing him over Enes Kanter because of his speed and defense. The 20-year-old rookie has been starting since then, and that might be the case throughout the season as Fizdale aims to speed up his development.

“He’s going to be our foundation, our anchor of our defense for the future,” Fizdale told Marc Berman of the New York Post.

“Let’s get this guy going right now and really commit to the development of these guys and to what it’s going to take to get them to where they need to be for us to be the team we’re going to be later.”

Kanter was the Knicks’ starting center through the opening five games of the season, and he impressed for the team offensively as he averaged 16.8 points and 10.8 boards during that stretch. However, his defense leaves much to be desired, opening the door for Robinson to compete for the starting role.

Robinson wasn’t expected to start for the Knicks after getting selected 36th overall in the second round of the 2018 NBA Draft. In fact, earlier in October, Fizdale was open to sending Robinson to the G League in order to slowly integrate him to the pros after a year out of organized basketball.

However, Robinson learned quickly and showed great potential on the defensive end to change Fizdale’s mind.

“One thing about [Robinson] that I’ve noticed is he picks stuff up quick,” Fizdale added.

“For a guy that didn’t play a whole year of basketball, man, he absorbs stuff fast and he applies it to the game pretty quickly. I’m looking at our team and I’m looking at our future, and we understand that to build the organization and the team that we want, we got to be a defensive-minded team, and Mitchell Robinson is a superior natural defender, so I just felt like let’s get this generated now.

The Knicks are 2-6 to start the season.