Knicks Plan to Manage Minutes of Key Player to Avoid Injury

The New York Knicks have been so close to the NBA Finals the last two years that they can taste it. After super-successful regular seasons and solid playoff runs, their team has run out of gas when it matters most, late in the playoffs.

Now, with a new coach and new workload philosophy, the Knicks are hoping to hit their stride right when it matters. To enter the playoffs healthy and prepared for a deep run should be their biggest regular-season goal. 

One way to do that is to manage the playing time of their most important players. There has been too much of a minutes burden on the Knicks’ top players over the last few seasons. 

Mitchell Robinson, who isn’t a star but is a key piece of the Knicks' rotation, is a guy with a long injury history that the Knicks need to be healthy for the playoffs. 

Knicks reporter Ian Begley recently gave an update on how the Knicks plan to manage Robinson’s playing time this season.

“Knicks center Mitchell Robinson did not practice today as part of team’s plan to manage his workload. Heading into regular season, team plans to manage Robinson’s minutes over course of year given his injury history, sources told SNY. Robinson had been starting alongside Karl-Anthony Towns in NYK’s preseason. He was held out last game and held out of the second half of NYK’s previous preseason game. Based on NYK plan, Robinson will be held out of some games out of precaution, per sources. Will be interesting to see how Knicks handle Robinson’s availability over the course of the season considering how important he is and considering their big-picture goals.”

It sounds like the Knicks are going to be cautious with Robinson, and they should. If he can enter the playoffs healthy and ready to take on a larger load, it could open things up for the Knicks on both ends of the floor.