Latest news with #MitchellRobinson
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Knicks Predicted to 'Check In' on Celtics Center This NBA Offseason
Knicks Predicted to 'Check In' on Celtics Center This NBA Offseason originally appeared on Athlon Sports. For a period of time this spring, the New York Knicks appeared to have a real shot at winning the NBA championship. But the Indiana Pacers, their old rivals from the 1990s, were able to end their run in stunning fashion in the Eastern Conference finals. Advertisement As the Knicks continue their search for a new head coach, they also find themselves needing a better bench. Their lack of bench firepower was one reason why they fell short, and they could use another reinforcement in their frontcourt. Center Mitchell Robinson's future with the team is in question, which could mean they need to find a replacement if they decide to move on from him. Ian Begley of SNY feels Al Horford of the Boston Celtics could be an option. "Also, ESPN reports that Celtics veteran Al Horford will have a robust market this offseason," Begley wrote. "I think the Knicks will also at least check in on Horford's situation in Boston." Al Horford is predicted to have a robust market this offseason.© Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images Horford is 39 years of age, but he was still productive this season and could have one more serviceable year left in him. He made $9.5 million this season and will officially become a free agent on Monday, June 30. Advertisement He averaged 9.0 points, 6.2 rebounds and 0.9 blocks in 27.7 minutes a game while shooting 36.3% from 3-point range this season. He remains the type of multifaceted role player who can be an asset for a team such as the Knicks that is hoping to win it all. The Knicks haven't reached the NBA Finals since 1999 and haven't won the world championship since 1973. Their trip to the Eastern Conference finals this year was their first since 2000, which was Hall of Famer Patrick Ewing's final year with the franchise. Related: Jason Kidd's Immediate Message To Cooper Flagg Revealed This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 28, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Knicks' Josh Hart listed as potential trade candidate this offseason
Feb 11, 2025; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; New York Knicks guard Josh Hart (3) talks to fans in the second half against the Indiana Pacers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images Feb 11, 2025; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; New York Knicks guard Josh Hart (3) talks to fans in the second half against the Indiana Pacers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images The New York Knicks are going to be looking at a variety of ways to improve the roster this offseason. After coming up just short of reaching the NBA Finals this past season, they will want to substantially improve the team to give them a better chance at winning a title. It is still unclear how they will approach the trade and free agent markets. They are also still in the midst of a head coaching search, so things could look a bit different next season. Knicks could trade Josh Hart this summer If they conduct a massive trade, it could come at the cost of one or multiple core pieces. Bleacher Report's Dan Favale listed Josh Hart as a likely trade candidate should the Knicks make a big move this summer. Credit: Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images 'If the New York Knicks are going to do anything substantial this offseason, it will require parting with one of their top six players. Process of elimination narrows it down to Josh Hart or Mitchell Robinson,' Favale wrote. 'Hart wins out over Robinson because he's making $6.5 million more ($19.5 million versus $13 million), but also because he's less of an anomaly. Nobody else on the roster brings Robinson's combination of size, interior deterrence, offensive rebounding and (when healthy) mobility.' Advertisement Hart is one of the more impactful players on the roster, but it became clear that his fit in the starting five was wonky. He wasn't aggressively looking to score, which allowed teams to throw their big man on him since he wasn't much of a threat to score. Hart must be traded only for a clear upgrade This, in turn, hurt the Knicks' floor spacing, as there wasn't enough offensive aggression from him to help open up the floor. Trading Hart would be a tough decision, as his rebounding and playmaking abilities are still very much useful in a bench role. Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images However, if they can move him for a clear upgrade, New York shouldn't hesitate to consider a deal for him. The Knicks are looking to take the next step towards winning a championship, and doing so comes at the cost of making tough decisions. Advertisement Ultimately, there is currently no indication that the Knicks are looking to trade Hart, but anything could happen in the coming weeks that quickly changes that. Related Headlines
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Pacers Andrew Nembhard, Myles Turner struggling against Knicks' lineup change
NEW YORK — Andrew Nembhard was asked how the Eastern Conference Finals have changed for him personally since the Knicks switched their lineups and rotations in Game 3 to go bigger in the starting five and deeper into the bench than they've done in these playoffs and most of this season. 'I'm just gonna keep that to myself,' Nembhard said. Advertisement It's more than understandable that he'd rather not discuss it because the changing of the matchups has clearly made his life significantly more difficult. In Games 1 and 2 in the series, Nembhard scored a combined 27 points (13.5 per game) on 11 of 18 shooting (61.1%) including 4 of 5 from 3-point range. In the last three games he has just 18 points total (6.0 per game) on 5 of 26 shooting (19.2%) including 1 of 6 from 3. The Knicks made changes to improve defensively. Though the Pacers scored a playoff-high 130 points in Game 4, they scored just 100 in Game 3 and 94 in Game 5, their two lowest figures in these playoffs. The big change was to put center Mitchell Robinson in the starting lineup and move wing Josh Hart to the bench. Though Hart is one of the Knicks' three top wing defenders along with Mikal Bridges and O.G. Anunoby, they needed better rim protection to take away some of the Pacers' paint scoring opportunities and also a center more suited to switch on to ball-handlers on the pick and roll. Karl-Anthony Towns is one of the league's top scoring and rebounding centers but defense is not his strongest suit. He scores too much to move to the bench, but Robinson's presence covers more bases. That move led to shifts in other matchups. Anunoby, one of the most versatile defenders in the NBA, was primarily taking on Pacers All-Star power forward Pascal Siakam to start the series . The Knicks have instead used Robinson and Towns to guard him, trying to combat his skill and elusiveness with size. They could have used Jalen Brunson on Nembhard, but instead, they've put Brunson on Aaron Nesmith and Nembhard has been dealing with the 6-7 Anunoby at the start of games and often times the 6-4 Hart later. It puts Nesmith in a bit more advantageous matchup, but he's been battling through a sprained ankle and hasn't been as explosive. Meanwhile having Anunoby on Nembhard and Bridges on Tyrese Haliburton means the Knicks have ace defenders on the two players who most frequently initiate offense and that's made it difficult to get anything started. Advertisement Nembhard has also seen his life get more difficult because the Knicks have been more willing to dig into their bench. Guards Landry Shamet and Delon Wright barely played in the playoffs before Game 3 of this series. Wright had just four minutes in the entire playoffs before that point. However, coach Tom Thibodeau has called on them to play double-figure minutes in each of the last three games. Nembhard has had to deal with both players as defenders which has meant guards with fresh legs when Anunoby has been off the floor. The defensive shift has been tough on Nembhard and it's been tough on Myles Turner as well as Turner has frequently had to deal with Mitchell Robinson directly. Turner only took three shots in Game 5. Two of them came when Robinson was off the floor and he was being defended by Towns. The first, an early 3-pointer, came when Robinson dipped deep down toward the paint to try to cut off a drive by Haliburton and Turner stayed back at the 3-point line and hit from 3. He finished 2 of 3 from the field for five points. Turner's shooting numbers weren't as dramatically different in Games 3 and 4 as compared to Games 1 and 2. He averaged 15.5 points per game in the first four games. He did struggle from the 3-point arc, however, he's now 5 of 19 from beyond the arc for the series and he's struggled on the glass, averaging just 3.4 rebounds per game and not grabbing more than five in any of the games. Nembhard and Turner are both critical to Haliburton's success as Nembhard is the secondary ball-handler who allows Haliburton to run around without the ball and Turner is his best ball screen partner. As the Pacers try to adjust and get past the Knicks into their first Finals since 2000 and the second in history, they'll be looking to get both more involved. Advertisement "The great part about the playoffs is you watch the film and see where you can get better," Haliburton said. "And we play again in two days." This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Andrew Nembhard, Myles Turner struggling against Knicks' lineup change
New York Post
01-06-2025
- Sport
- New York Post
Mitchell Robinson left feeling ‘like s–t' after long road back ends with Knicks playoff heartbreak
INDIANAPOLIS — A long and arduous road back for Mitchell Robinson led him all the way back to the Knicks' starting lineup in the Eastern Conference finals. It made the way it all ended Saturday that much more painful. 'S–tty, bro. Like s–t,' Robinson described his feelings at his locker following the Knicks' season-ending 125-108 loss to the Pacers in Game 6. 'I don't even got words, to be honest with you. 'Obviously, I didn't play the full year, came back in, what, late February, March and grinded the whole time all the way up to this point. 'I'm happy that we got this far, but I don't know, man. We gave away two [games] at home early, then we were playing out of a hole, and you can't do that.' 3 Mitchell Robinson dunks the ball during the Knicks' 125-108 season-ending Game 6 loss to the Pacers on May 31, 2025. Charles Wenzelberg Robinson missed the first four months of the regular season following surgery to repair an ankle injury suffered in last year's playoffs. The longest-tenured Knick returned to the starting lineup in Memphis on Feb. 28, and he appeared in 17 regular-season games and all 18 in three rounds of the playoffs. Follow The Post's coverage of the Knicks in the 2025 NBA Playoffs Sports+ subscribers: Sign up for Inside the Knicks to get daily newsletter coverage and join Expert Take for insider texts about the series. With the starting unit struggling defensively at the start of games, Robinson finally was inserted into the starting lineup alongside Karl-Anthony Towns in Game 3 against the Pacers, with Josh Hart moving to a reserve role. The 7-foot Robinson provided eight points on 4-for-4 shooting with nine rebounds and two blocked shots in Game 6, with five of those boards coming on the offensive end, all in the first half. 3 Mitchell Robinson attempts to pull down a rebound during the Knicks' Game 6 loss to the Pacers. Charles Wenzelberg 3 Mitchell Robinson greets Tyrese Haliburton after the Knicks' Game 6 loss. Charles Wenzelberg He didn't have as much of a two-way impact in the second half, however, and admitted he 'should've kept my energy up, but I feel like I didn't play to my full potential.' Still, Robinson's unique ability to provide extra possessions for the Knicks on the offensive end helped keep them within four points at halftime despite slow starts by Towns and Jalen Brunson. What's happening on and off the Garden court Sign up for Inside the Knicks by Stefan Bondy, a weekly exclusive on Sports+. Thank you Enter your email address Please provide a valid email address. By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Enjoy this Post Sports+ exclusive newsletter! Check out more newsletters Asked before the game if he still considers himself the best offensive rebounder in the NBA, Robinson replied 'of course' and '[I] still am.' The 27-year-old Robinson, who was drafted by the Knicks in the second round in 2018, has one year remaining on the four-year, $60 million extension he signed in 2022.
New York Post
30-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Post
Pacers starters were in a rare, ugly place in Game 5 loss to Knicks
INDIANAPOLIS — The Knicks' starting five was a mess earlier in the series, so much so that Tom Thibodeau finally made a change, inserting Mitchell Robinson beginning with Game 3. The Pacers' starters endured a brutal game collectively in allowing the Knicks back into the Eastern Conference finals Thursday night with a series-extending 111-94 win in Game 5 at the Garden. This time, it was Indiana's starting group spotting the Knicks an early double-digit lead from which the Pacers never fully recovered. The individual numbers for the game were ugly, most notably a shutdown of All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton, who followed up a masterful 32-point, 15-assist, zero-turnover triple-double in Game 4 with eight points on 2-for-7 shooting with six assists in 32 minutes. 3 Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton goes up for a shot as New York Knicks center Mitchell Robinson defends during the third quarter of Game 5. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post Overall, Haliburton and fellow starters Aaron Nesmith, Andrew Nembhard and Myles Turner combined for only 22 points on 8-for-22 from the floor, including only two made 3-pointers in 10 attempts. Pascal Siakam was also held to 15 points, half his total from two nights earlier. 'We obviously didn't play with the level of force that we needed to,' Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. 'We lost the rebound battle [45-40], we lost the turnover battle [19-15], and we didn't shoot well. They had a lot to do with it, so give them credit. We're gonna have to play much better. 'To start the game, we just didn't have the right level of force, the right level of attitude necessary in this environment. It was a bad start, and we never had a lead in the game. There were a multitude of things going wrong. There were times in the game we got a little bit of traction, but never enough.' Carlisle called the Pacers taking three of the first four games against the Knicks, including a miraculous late comeback to win in overtime in the series opener, 'ancient history now' ahead of another closeout chance in Game 6 on Saturday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. 3 Pascal Siakam goes up for a deep shot in Game 2. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post 'Everything gets more intense as a series continues to evolve. It's great competition, but we weren't at the level compete-wise that we needed to be,' Carlisle said. 'Overall, our disposition, posture, force, intensity, all of that just simply was not good enough.' Follow The Post's coverage of the Knicks in the 2025 NBA Playoffs Sports+ subscribers: Sign up for Inside the Knicks to get daily newsletter coverage and join Expert Take for insider texts about the series. Siakam agreed, saying after the game that the Knicks 'played harder than us.' He also got into a contentious discussion with an Indiana-based media member during his postgame press conference over that assertion. 'We played hard, but they played harder,' Siakam said. 'That happens in a game.' Indiana received 57 points from its bench in Game 5, led by 23 from Bennedict Mathurin and 11 from Obi Toppin, but the 37 from the starters resulted in the Pacers being held below 100 points for the first time in the playoffs and the first time overall since a 112-89 loss in Portland in early February. 3 Aaron Nesmith of the Indiana Pacers looks on during the game against the New York Knicks during Game 5 of the 2025 Eastern Conference Finals on May 29, 2025 at Madison Square Garden. NBAE via Getty Images 'We weren't great as a group,' Haliburton said of the starting unit. 'We gotta be better as a group, and our pace has to be better, and that starts with me. It was a rough showing for us tonight, so we'll watch the film and see where we can get better and be prepared for Game 6.'
