Boston Celtics Center Continues to Earn Praise From Media Members

The Boston Celtics are finally returning to the court.

The Celtics will open their preseason against the Cleveland Cavaliers at 7 p.m. ET on Thursday at Rocket Arena in Cleveland.

Thursday will mark the first look for the new-look Boston roster, which will not feature former NBA Finals MVP for the first time since the 2017-18 season. Paul George, who was acquired in a trade that sent Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers, will draw a lot of eyes in his Celtics debut.

The roster will also include several free agent signings, including center Mitchell Robinson.

The 28-year-old big man will be making his debut for Boston after an eight-season tenure with the New York Knicks, which saw him win the NBA championship with New York this past season.

Despite the attention the Brown trade received, there's been a lot of excitement internally and externally for the debut of Robinson, who was described as a player the team had to plan around by head coach Joe Mazzulla.

There's also several members of the media who are excited to see Robinson in the Celtics green.

"I'm really excited to see someone who's hurt the Celtics so much, been a thorn in their side," Celtics Blog reporter Noa Dalzell said in an appearance on Celtics on CLNS. "I saw people tweeting about Andre Drummond being the backup center now for the Knicks and how much of a challenge that poses relative to Mitchell Robinson. I've said this before but I feel like this is one of the biggest, underrated offseason transactions provided he could stay healthy. So, super curious to see what Mitchell Robinson looks like, how he's utilized offensively, how much of an edge he provides on the glass. Definitely one of the guys that I'm most excited to see."

Robinson was the team's backup center behind Karl Anthony-Towns last season, but was the team's go-to rim protector and was a defensive anchor in the post.

Boston was harshly reminded about the importance of defense in the post after it blew a 3-1 series lead in the first round of the playoffs last season to Philadelphia after the return of star center Joel Embiid.

Robinson will likely be tasked with the hefty assignment of defending Embiid, as well as other talented bigs in the Eastern Confernece, including his former teammate Anthony-Towns, and Miami Heat frontcourt stars Bam Adebayo and recently-acquired former MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo.

A lot of Robinson's performance will also depend on health. He's been limited to 110 total games over the last three seasons, but played in 60 last year.