NBA rumors: Mitchell Robinson set to return after long-injury absence

New York is currently racing for a top-three seed in the Eastern Conference and is possibly getting back a big man that they have missed since before the start of the calendar year. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Mitchell Robinson is "expected to be active and available to play" against the Toronto Raptors tonight. While he is expected back soon, the big man will most likely come off the bench for the foreseeable future.

Robinson needed surgery after injuring his left knee in a game against the Boston Celtics. Before the injury, the big man was a controlling presence in the offensive and defensive paint. He was averaging 10 rebounds per game with boards coming equally from both sides of the court.

Robinson was also shooting nearly 60 percent from the floor and was a great pick-and-roll partner for Jalen Brunson. Even though he is extremely close to coming back, the Knicks are running the risk of him re-injuring himself if they play him big minutes. Since Tom Thibodeau has an extremely unacceptable habit of playing his veterans high minutes, this is something that the Knicks need to be careful of.

Will Tom Thibodeau's lack of good player management force Mitchell Robinson to miss time later on?

To be quite honest, Knicks management should be extremely worried that Mitchell Robinson will end up getting injured with part of cause being Tom Thibodeau's lack of concern for player management. The good news for the squad is the fact that Mitchell Robinson will likely be coming off the bench for the foreseeable future which means that the center is likely to not play 40+ minutes every night.

In all reality, the front office can do all they can with mandates that Robinson minutes management but Thibodeau is gonna Thibodeau. Hopefully, the Knicks will avoid re-injury soon.