The New York Knicks have done an excellent job handling the salary cap since Leon Rose took over the front office. For years, the Knicks ran like a rudderless ship compared to rest of the NBA. They seemingly never had a plane in place making moves without any rhyme or reason.
They would trade draft picks on a whim and struggled to evaluate talent, leading to plenty of head-scratching selections when they did retain their selection.
Just how poor were the Knicks at drafting prospects? They haven’t re-signed a draft pick, regardless of round, to a multi-year extension since Charlie Ward. Ward was a first-round pick in 1994, so it has been 27 years since the Knicks selected someone that re-signed for multiple years beyond their rookie deal.
There is hope that the streak ends with someone on this current roster. Could Mitchell Robinson be the player that snaps it?
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Robinson was selected in the second round of the 2018 NBA Draft, going No. 36 overall. He enrolled at Western Kentucky but didn’t play collegiately, which played a part in him slipping down the draft board. The Knicks are happy that occurred as they landed a starting center as a result of it.
Robinson is now eligible for an extension, but the Knicks aren’t in a rush to get a deal done. According to SNY sources via Ian Begley, the organization is going to play the waiting game when it comes to signing Robinson to an extension.
“The Knicks can offer Robinson an extension any time between now and the eve of free agency. The extension can be as long as four years and worth as much as $54 million in total. In the offseason, some with the Knicks had said the club was unlikely to agree with Robinson on an extension early in the season; they preferred to evaluate Robinson more fully during the season before deciding on a long-term approach, per SNY sources.”
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There is no harm in waiting things out for the Knicks’ perspective. Mitchell Robinson is returning from injury, so the team wants to see how he looks before committing long-term to him.
He will have that opportunity to prove himself, as he will be the team’s starting center once he is healthy enough to return to the court. If he plays as he did before he was injured, there should be little hesitation from New York’s perspective to hammer out a deal.
