NBA rumors: Jonas Valanciunas a Knicks trade target depending on Mitchell Robinson
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It’s no secret that Mitchell Robinson (ankle) has struggled with injuries over the last couple of years, as he’s only played in 90 regular season games since the start of the 2022-23 campaign. The New York Knicks expect the seven-footer to be back in February, but there’s a chance that they could run out of patience before then, via SNY’s Ian Begley.
The Knicks hold "solid belief" that Mitchell Robinson will return to the court around early February, says @IanBegley
Jonas Valanciunas is a name to keep an eye on if the Knicks elect to move on from Robinson
Ian, @JLEdwardsIII, and @SirDennyBlanco on The Putback with Ian… pic.twitter.com/iz6z9T2vIN
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“I do believe that there is a solid belief that he will be back, and they will have him back on the floor by early February. I do think that’s a real thing,” Begley said. “Now, do you wait that long, or do you move on and try to pick up somebody else? I do think Jonas Valanciunas will be somebody that’s on their radar if they do decide to move on from Mitch Robinson and decide that they need somebody else in there.”
Is Jonas Valanciunas a worthy target for Knicks?
Valanciunas would provide immediate value as a backup to Karl Anthony-Towns. The 32-year-old is averaging 11.6 points on 55.8% shooting with 8.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists across 19.8 minutes per game for the Washington Wizards this season. However, the more cost-effective scenario would be Robinson coming back at full strength.
“I really think in a perfect world that Mitch comes back, he’s healthy, he shows he can play, and they move forward there,” Begley continued. “I think we kind of forget how good he is offensive rebounding, defending the rim, and how high-level he was playing at before he got hurt last year. A few injuries, the first one and then the [Joel] Embiid takedown. Best scenario for them is that happens, and everything I heard was that he was making linear progress on that rehab and that nobody had expected him to not be back at some point.”
Indeed, Robinson’s skillset is the perfect fit for a Knicks team that has no other established center behind Towns, and they don’t have to give up any assets to take a chance on his injury luck. The 2018 No. 36 overall pick had 4.6 offensive rebounds, 1.1 blocks, and 1.2 steals per game last season.
While Valanciunas is healthy, the Wizards want valuable draft capital for him, via The Athletic’s Josh Robbins and David Aldridge.
“Washington's front office would want a draft pick (or picks) that would appreciably move the team's rebuild forward — not, for instance, late second-round picks,” they wrote. “But it will be hard to find a suitor, at least before the usual warm-up to trade talks in the final week or so before the deadline, who'd be willing to go much higher.”
It makes sense for New York to cough up first-round picks for Valanciunas if, and only if, Robinson suffers a setback in his rehab.
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