NBA
Insiders predict Mitchell Robinson will begin 2025-26 as a starter for the Knicks
Zach Wolpin is an NBA and NFL expert who's been betting on the league for over three years now. Wolpin has been a fan of the NBA and has been watching for a decade and a half. He covers the latest news and stories surrounding the league daily. His passion in life is watching sports and being able to share that through his sports writing. He has written about the NBA and other sports leagues through various media outlets over the years like Sir Charles In Charge, G-Men HQ, and TAP into South Plainfield. Before he became an NBA News Writer, Wolpin attended Montclair State University where he graduated in 2021. He studied Sports Media and Writing while in school.
All posts by Zach WolpinUpdated4 hours ago on September 16, 2025
Ahead of the 2025-26 season, the Knicks continue to add pieces to their roster. New York knows the Eastern Conference is weaker this season. Several teams are missing their star players due to injury.
The Knicks made an appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals in the 2025 playoffs. Unfortunately, they lost in six games to the Pacers. Head coach Tom Thibodeau was fired, and Mike Brown was hired as his replacement. Before he was canned, Thibodeau made a change to the starting lineup. Mitchell Robinson started at center. NBA insider Zach Lowe reported that he believes New York will begin the 2025-26 season with Robinson as their starter.
How many games will Mitchell Robinson start for the Knicks in 2025-26?
In the second round of the 2018 NBA draft, the Knicks selected Mitchell Robinson out of Texas. He’s played all seven of his professional seasons for New York. Robinson has played in 337 games and has made 199 starts. His career-high for games played is 72 in 2021-22, along with 62 starts that season. Since then, Robinson’s highest total is 59 games in 2022-23. Over the last three seasons, Robinson has missed significant time due to injury.
Multiple ankle surgeries in 2023-24 limited Robinson to just 17 games for the Knicks in 2024-25. Mitchell Robinson missed the first 58 games of the season and made his debut in early May. By the playoffs, Robinson was back to full health and was playing at a high level for the Knicks. Before Tom Thibodeau was fired, he started Mitchell Robinson in New York’s final four postseason games.
UPDATE: #8 on our list is Mitchell Robinson!
What is your favorite memory of his time in a Knicks uniform? #KFS25FOR25 https://t.co/trIlm2vQRO pic.twitter.com/51c9zmE6dK
— Knicks Film School (@KnickFilmSkool) September 14, 2025
NBA insider Zach Lowe believes the Knicks could keep Robinson in the starting lineup for the 2025-26 season. Lowe predicts first-year Knicks head coach Mike Brown will start Mitchell Robinson. If that’s true, Josh Hart would likely come off the bench. This would allow Karl-Anthony Towns to play PF. Much like he did alongside Rudy Gobert when he was with the Timberwolves.
The Knicks were able to survive in the 2024-25 regular season with Towns as their starting center. However, his defensive flaws were targeted by opposing teams in the playoffs. New York did see more success when Mitchell Robinson started alongside Karl-Anthony Towns. These changes happened too late, and the Knicks lost in the postseason. Given the fact that New York has more depth in 2025-26, they could always tweak the starting lineup if Robinson struggled.
