The New York Knicks swept the Philadelphia 76ers to reach the Eastern Conference Finals for the second straight year, playing some of their best basketball of the season.
But while the team eyes an NBA Finals spot, a quiet threat to their roster is building behind the scenes.
According to New York Post reporter Stefan Bondy, “Sources around the league have pegged Sacramento as a threat to pry Mitchell Robinson away in free agency. Kings GM Scott Perry has long been a fan of Robinson after drafting him in 2018 as a member of the Knicks front office.”
Here’s the crux of it. Perry wasn’t simply a fan viewing the game from a distance. In fact, he was the Knicks’ general manager at the time when New York picked Robinson in the second round of the 2018 draft. So, to say he has witnessed Robinson’s growth and potential firsthand even before Robinson’s first NBA game was even played.
Robinson, who is now 28, is finishing the last year of his four-year, $60 million contract. He is set to be an unrestricted free agent as soon as the playoffs end, giving him the liberty to sign with any team he desires.
The Knicks still possess his Bird rights and can exceed the salary cap to retain him, but that only matters if they are financially willing to do so.
And the real question is that willingness. New York has already allocated approximately $191 million to Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges, and Josh Hart for next season, which takes them very close to the NBA’s second apron, a hard ceiling that limits roster-building options very significantly.
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Perry’s familiarity with Robinson goes back to drafting him in 2018, and the source says he has long been a fan. That kind of history with a player matters when free agency comes around. It is not just another team doing its homework.
The Kings finished 22-60 this past season and are in a full rebuild. Perry has been upfront that Sacramento will not have meaningful financial flexibility until 2027-28, so pulling off a deal for Robinson would require creative maneuvering.
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He has been a part of New York’s playoff identity for a long time. One of the reasons the Knicks were able to sweep a Joel Embiid-led Sixers team is that their frontcourt performed well, and Robinson was a part of that. It won’t be easy to find a substitute for what he brings to the team.
The front office will have to consider his value in relation to their cap situation. Sacramento is not the only team that is expected to target him this summer, however, Perry’s relationship with Robinson makes the Kings a very dangerous competitor. As a player who has only known one NBA city, this summer might really be a fork in the road for him.
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