The New York Knicks are expected to lose center Mitchell Robinson in free agency.
According to the New York Post’s Stefan Bondy, Robinson is “unlikely to return to the Knicks next season,” mostly because of New York’s self-imposed financial cap.
“Heard it’s unlikely Mitchell Robinson will be back with Knicks next season. He’s longest tenured Knick but also an unrestricted free agent. Owner James Dolan said he’s unwilling to pay into second apron so running it back with bench is not feasible.” — New York Post’s Stefan Bondy
According to Bondy’s sources, the longest-tenured Knick, with the team since New York drafted him with the No. 36 pick in the 2008 NBA Draft, is expected to depart and put an end to his time in New York shortly after becoming a champion.
Robinson’s situation is tied directly to the franchise’s financial stance, with Knicks owner James Dolan making it clear his organization will not cross the second apron this summer, even though that would inevitably lead to breaking the title-winning core, with the exception of the under-contract starting five.
“There’s certain things in the NBA that you’d have to be suicidal to do. One of them is the second apron. Cannot go into the second apron,” Dolan said. “I’ll write as big of a check as possible, but I can’t write a check that goes into the second apron.”
Dolan’s mandate has already influenced New York’s early offseason moves, including trading out of the 2026 NBA Draft’s first round to avoid adding guaranteed salary to its books, ultimately landing two second-round rookies that will likely sign minimum or two-way contracts.
Meanwhile, SNY’s Ian Begley added that retaining Robinson would likely require a pay cut from the big man, which feels highly unlikely given his value on the open market has increased and multiple suitors—the Los Angeles Lakers and the Sacramento Kings among them—could enter a bidding war for his services.
“It’s unlikely Mitchell Robinson returns to the Knicks because, in the best case scenario, he’d have to take a pay cut in order for NYK to remain under 2nd apron.” — SNY’s Ian Begley
Even out of the upcoming free-agency context, there is no realistic scenario in which Robinson, who isn’t necessarily old (he will play next season at age 28) but has only appeared in 167 games of the last possible 328 (51%) in the regular season, would take such a massive pay cut to fit the Knicks’ books.
Robinson has completed a four-year, $60 million deal with an average annual salary of $15 million per year. As things stand, per Yossi Gozlan, Mitch would need to take a substantial discount and sign for around $8-$9 million for New York to retain him. The word out there is that the Lakers and Kings would start their pitches at Robinson’s current $15-million-per-year salary with the expectation that the figure would increase.
Earlier on Thursday, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst already said that “There is a real possibility that (the Knicks) won’t keep Mitch Robinson.”
“There is a real possibility that they won’t keep Mitch Robinson. The Knicks are working on it. They made several different moves to free up about $4 million in airspace under the apron. There’s a possibility they may trade off another player to save some money. They’re trying to figure out Mitch Robinson, but I would say it’s not a guarantee that it will work. I would say Mitch Robinson is 50/50… maybe 51/49 to come back.” — ESPN’s Brian Windhorst
If Mitch has played his last game as a Knick, he’d leave New York with 397 regular-season games under his belt, averaging 7.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks. On top of that, he appeared in 53 postseason games, putting up 4.9 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 0.9 blocks per game.
With free agency nearing, the gap between Robinson’s market value and what the Knicks can offer appears to make his return to Manhattan unlikely. Blame it on the little room for maneuvering imposed by the NBA’s second apron, but mostly on Dolan’s stubbornness. Some things never change.
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