A dominant rim protector with local ties, Mitchell Robinson fits New Orleans’ defensive needs perfectly. However, his history of recurring injuries poses a high-stakes gamble for the Pelicans' front office.
The New Orleans Pelicans only have a limited amount of resources this offseason to make their team better in free agency, so they must be careful about who they add. Some players might make sense on paper, but might be too big a risk to go after, especially with the recent luck of the Pelicans.
One such player is New York Knicks center Mitchell Robinson. About 90% of his NBA profile says that he is pretty much the perfect offseason target for New Orleans, but his injury history might give too much pause.
Robinson isn't from the city, but did finish his high school career in Chalmette, La. He only started playing basketball as an eighth-grader and didn't hit his real growth spurt until late in high school. Still, he was able to dominate. He skipped college and decided to prepare for the NBA draft, where the Knicks took him in the second round.
The 7-footer has pretty much been the same player throughout his career, though he played/scored a little bit more early in his career. This past season in New York, he played 19.6 minutes per game with 5.7 points, 8.8 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game.
He is a big, strong, defense-first sixth-man of the year candidate who fits the exact description of what the Pelicans need, plus the fact that he used to live in the city. Why wouldn't New Orleans want to go after him? His health issues.
The Pelicans know firsthand what happens when crucial pieces of the team end up injured and missed major stretches. It's a big reason that their record has been so bad over the last two years. It would be brutal to spend all of their money on someone and then barely be able to play them.
Over the last three seasons 43% of his games, and that's with playing in 60 this past year. He is a great bonus to have on defense, but can't counted on to stay healthy at this point of his career, with multiple ankle injuries in recent years.
That's pretty much where the conversation lies. He would certainly be a fun addition to the roster, and make the defense much better, but there is a clear risk in going after him.
Because New Orleans does have Derik Queen and Yves Missi also to play center, though, perhaps that could allow them to stagger his minutes. It would be one of the bigger selling points in why it would be worth the risk, at least.
