Former All-Star Big Man Could Help Knicks Retool at Center

The New York Knicks might have to get creative if they lose Mitchell Robinson, and a longtime veteran could be one solution.

New York Knicks center Mitchell Robinson (23) dunks against the Atlanta Hawks in the second quarter during game six of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at State Farm Arena. | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Update: On Monday evening, Jake Fischer of The Stein Line reported that the Clippers are exercising Brook Lopez's $9.2 million team option for next season and intend on keeping him.

There might be a world where the Brooklyn Nets sign Mitchell Robinson in free agency, and the New York Knicks find themselves in a position to land their crosstown rival's all-time points leader, Brook Lopez. The best-case scenario is, of course, the Knicks re-signing Robinson, but owner James Dolan's salary cap constraints may force them to look elsewhere. They'll need a center, and that's where Lopez comes into play.

Signing the 7'1" Lopez is contingent on whether the Los Angeles Clippers pick up his team option. Lopez would be owed $9.2 million if they did. After a down year, though, they may not bring him back to free up some cap space. At the same time, they may want to head in a more youthful direction after drafting the likes of Baba Miller last week.

While Lopez saw a decline in production last season, the Knicks wouldn't lean on him so heavily, and a decreased workload could be one way to keep him fresh. They could manage him the same way they did with Robinson.

New York Knicks center Mitchell Robinson (23) and San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) battle for a rebound during game five of the 2026 NBA Finals at Frost Bank Center. | Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

Giving Brook Lopez the 2025-2026 Mitch blueprint

Lopez played in 75 games for the Clippers this past season, started 40, and averaged 21.8 minutes per game. At this point, that could be too much for him. He saw a decline in offensive rebounds (0.6), defensive rebounds (3.0), assists (1.3), and blocks (1.2).

If they go the Robinson route with Lopez, hopefully he gets back to something close to what he was in that last season with the Milwaukee Bucks. In the 2024-2025 season, he averaged 1.4 offensive rebounds, 3.6 defensive rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.9 steals.

If an increased workload is the problem, that may not have been more evident by his +/- after rest days. He played in 13 games with no days' rest and had a -22.8. He played 46 games with one day of rest and had a 6.2 +/-. Then, he played in 10 games with two days' rest and had a 17.9 +/-.

Oklahoma City Thunder center Chet Holmgren (7), center Isaiah Hartenstein (55) defend a shot by Los Angeles Clippers center Brook Lopez (11) in the first half at Intuit Dome. | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Things were not so great on three days' rest. It's only a six-game sample size, but he had a -12.4. In this case, it's either too much rest for him or just a matter of there not being enough games to evaluate what these numbers mean.

But if there is one thing that hasn't dipped, it's his ability to shoot threes. While his overall field goal percentage dropped from 50.9% with the Bucks to 42.8% with the Clippers, Lopez shot 36% from three on 4.2 attempts per game.

In fact, 13.6% of Lopez's three-point attempts came from the corner, where he made 41.9% of them. For his career, the defensive-minded big man has shot 35% from beyond the arc.

Numbers aside, Lopez could bring a veteran presence for the Knicks. Losing Robinson probably means the second unit may need to lean on younger players like Mohamed Diawara and the newly drafted Tyler Nickel. Robinson is a defensive force, but what they lose on that end, they gain in an overall mentorship opportunity with Lopez.