Knicks Champion Robinson Bolts for Boston Celtics in Free Agency

The New York Knicks will lose one of two key rotation players who they initially drafted from their NBA championship run in free agency, as center Mitchell Robinson will join a new team for the first time in his career.

The newly crowned NBA champ has agreed to a three-year, $47.4 million deal with the Boston Celtics and will head to be a proven defensive anchor for the Celtics after eight seasons with the Knicks.

His exit ends an era in New York as the longest-tenured Knick, and one instrumental to helping deliver the franchise’s first title in 53 years.

In under 24 minutes a game, Robinson had career averages of 7.5 points and 8.0 rebounds for the Knicks. He averaged 4.2 offensive rebounds per game last season which was good for second in the league.

He was also gritty, playing through a broken right pinky that he incurred between the Eastern Conference finals and NBA Finals.

In the playoffs, he averaged 4.8 points and 5.5 rebounds in 13.9 minutes.

To read more about the pickup for Boston as one of several moves by the franchise in free agency, here is the full story from Celtics Roundtable writer Brady Farkas.

There are the obvious questions of durability and availability, as he only played more than 66 games once in his career. He only played 31 games in 2023-24 due to ankle issues.

However, when healthy, he’s an efficient shooter, shooting 60.8 percent through their championship run.

He will now project as Boston’s starting center in front of Neemias Queta as the Celtics weigh more of an overall, including what to do with star Jaylen Brown.