Knicks Daily Roundup 3/2: Leon Rose Coming Soon, Mitch Chases History, and More

-There was speculation that Leon Rose would take over as the Knicks’ President of Basketball Operations yesterday, but that looked to be a bit premature. Rose is now expected to begin his new role with the club today, which was reported by Frank Isola of The Athletic and confirmed by Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News.

It has yet to be determined whether there will be a press conference announcing Rose, but Knicks fans’ are surely eager to hear from the former CAA agent about his plans for the team’s future amid another lost season. It does appear that Rose plans to take his time before making decisions on personnel, which was reported by Ian Begley of SNY. This line of thinking is wise, as the turnover for both the front office and coaching staff has made it difficult to build organizational and team stability.

-Mitchell Robinson continued his tear on Saturday against the Bulls, muscling his way to 23 points, 10 rebounds, and 2 blocks in the team’s victory. You can read more about Mitch’s monster performance from our own David Vertsberger. Perhaps the most impressive part of Robinson's season has been his chase for Wilt Chamberlain’s record for the highest single-season field goal percentage.

Chamberlain’s record of 72.7% from the field in the 1972-73 season is in jeopardy, as Robinson sports a field-goal percentage of 73.2% this season. In order to qualify, the big man needs to make 300 field goals by season’s end—he sits at 227 with 22 games to go. Robinson has been showing he deserves more minutes, and while he hasn’t been starting, the center’s playing time off the bench has increased. Going after this record is yet another reason why head coach Mike Miller should give the fans more of the man they chanted “MVP” for.

That being said, it doesn’t look like Robinson will be in the starting lineup anytime soon, according to Begley. The second-year player out of Western Kentucky has been a second-unit stalwart. Robinson said that veteran Taj Gibson, who starts over him, has helped him improve.

-Begley reported that Dennis Smith Jr. missed Saturday’s game against the Bulls and is also expected to miss tonight’s game against the Rockets due to a concussion. It’s uncertain whether he will be back for Wednesday’s game against the Jazz. Smith Jr. was the centerpiece in the Kristaps Porzingis deal and has had a tough time contributing consistently.

Injuries like this do not help his cause. While Smith Jr. has been a mercurial player due to his style of play and energy level at times, it’s still in the Knicks’ best interest that he gets himself on the court and shows some improvements.

-Marc Berman of the NY Post reported that the Knicks will host a 50th anniversary celebration for the 1969-70 championship team on March 21 when New York hosts the defending champion Warriors. Knicks announcer and member of that title team Walt “Clyde” Frazier is excited about the team being honored, and he is surely to pick out his best suit for the occasion.

However, not everyone was asked to attend, as Marv Albert, the radio announcer during that season (as well as many more) and considered to be one of the best ever, was not invited according to the NY Post. It’s possible this stemmed from Albert and Knicks’ owner James Dolan not being on the best of terms.

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