Begley's Mailbag: Will Knicks sign Mitchell Robinson to an extension?

SNY's Ian Begley will be responding to and breaking down answers to Knicks questions from readers. Here's the latest...

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@2lowtech (F Reid): Has management given any indication as the whether or not they plan to sign Mitchell Robinson to an extension??

Tom Thibodeau suggested recently that Robinson is still "behind" on the conditioning front. As noted in the video mailbag, Robinson has seemed much more agile recently. But clearly the Knicks still believe he can be better.

Just my opinion: Thibodeau’s thoughts on Robinson can be interpreted in a few ways:

1. The Knicks believe Robinson is incredibly talented and know that he’s capable of playing at a higher level if he’s in better shape. This, to me, would indicate that the club is open to keeping Robinson beyond this season.
2. The Knicks are disappointed that Robinson still hasn’t gotten in shape following his offseason surgery. And they see this as a red flag when thinking about Robinson’s future with the club. To be clear: Thibodeau has never publicly blamed Robinson for being out of shape. He’s spoken glowingly about Robinson’s talent and his impact on the game.

I don’t have specific information on how the Knicks feel about Robinson’s future today. But it’s worth noting that there are current decision-makers who don’t love what they’ve seen from the 23-year-old.

Maybe that’s why there was a small amount of interest from New York in acquiring Andre Drummond last season. The Knicks eventually distanced themselves from Drummond.

After the trade deadline, the Knicks said that they wanted to further evaluate Robinson as a starter in the final weeks of the season.

Robinson’s foot injury prevented that from happening. So this season, you’d think, has been an open evaluation of Robinson.

If the Knicks don’t believe they’ll re-sign Robinson, it’s logical to assume they will explore opportunities to trade him at the deadline or in an offseason sign-and-trade. Losing Robinson for nothing in free agency would be questionable asset management, in my opinion.

From a trade perspective, it’s worth noting that the Denver Nuggets are looking to acquire a big man, per The Denver Post.

It’s also worth noting New York’s connection to Myles Turner. There are top decision-makers who’ve seen Turner as a trade target.

If New York trades for Turner, you’d think that they’d send Robinson -- or another center – to the Indiana Pacers in the transaction.