Knicks third-year center Mitchell Robinson has another fracture in the same season, this time leaving the Bucks game with a broken foot.

New York Knicks center Mitchell Robinson will miss an extended stretch of time for the second instance during the 2020–21 NBA season after fracturing his right foot against the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday, per the team.

Robinson, turning 23 next week, started for the first time since returning from a hand fracture, which kept him sidelined for roughly five weeks. The third-year center appeared in two prior games since returning from the hand injury before getting the start on Saturday. However, in the first half, Robinson came down awkwardly while making a hustle play on defense. Robinson was in clear agony and left for the locker room after the Knicks called timeout.

A second-round selection by the Knicks in 2018, Robinson set a new NBA record for field goal percentage, surpassing Hall of Famer Wilt Chamberlain, last year in his sophomore campaign. This season, in only 30 appearances entering tonight, Robinson averaged 8.5 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game.

The Knicks find themselves short-staffed in the frontcourt. Julius Randle, a first-time All-Star and one of the league leaders in minutes, missed his first game of the season on Saturday. Free agent center Andre Drummond, rumored to be interested in New York, is now reportedly close to a contract with the reigning champion Los Angeles Lakers, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

The New York Post‘s Marc Berman reported earlier on Saturday that free agent big man Gorgui Dieng and the Knicks could be a marriage. With Robinson out for an unspecified amount of time, a Dieng signing would make sense to bolster the frontcourt depth as the Knicks look to make the playoffs for the first time in eight years.

Nerlens Noel, the Knicks’ backup center signed last offseason, had acquitted himself well playing the starter role with Robinson out earlier this season.

 

This story is developing and this post will be updated. Check back later and refresh the page for additional updates.

 

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