Knicks’ opener comes with Josh Hart injury and big Mitchell Robinson intrigue

The Knicks are already shorthanded.

They will begin their season without two key pieces, as Josh Hart and Mitchell Robinson are out for Wednesday’s opener against the Cavaliers at Madison Square Garden. Neither practiced on Tuesday.

Hart’s absence — he is dealing with lumbar spasms, per a league source — makes sense. But Robinson’s lack of availability raises plenty of questions.

The Knicks publicly maintain that Robinson, who was set to move into the starting lineup with Hart going to the bench to lead the second unit, is not hurt, but rather that it is load management.

“If we deemed it necessary, could he possibly go? Yeah, he could possibly go,” coach Mike Brown said Tuesday.

If Robinson can play… why isn’t he? It’s not as if the Knicks have a back-to-back looming or are coming off a heavy period of action. What is the load that is being managed before playing a single regular-season game?

Well, it is left ankle injury management, according to a league source.

That suggests Robinson suffered some sort of setback in the preseason — he missed most of the regular season last year after undergoing surgery on his left ankle in May 2024.

It was the second operation on that ankle — he had his first surgery in December 2023. He played just 17 regular-season games last year and did not make his season debut until Feb. 28.

Knicks center Mitchell Robinson (23) dunks against the Philadelphia 76ers. AP

Robinson missed the last two preseason games — he played in the first three, but did not play in the second half of the third and has not played since.

But now, the Knicks want to make sure he is 100 percent ramped up and ready before he sees real game action this year. It is something they will monitor the whole year.

“With Mitch, we just have to be smart,” Brown said. “That’s part of load management. Just because he might be able to play tonight, he might be able to practice today, that doesn’t necessarily mean I’m gonna play him or I’m gonna practice him.”

Josh Hart of the New York Knicks speaks to the media during practice. NBAE via Getty Images

Without Robinson, Ariel Hukporti could slot in as the starting center. A second-round pick last year, he played in 25 games as a rookie.

Brown has suggested that he’d rather replace a starter with someone who most closely resembles his role rather than inserting the next best player and changing around roles, like moving Karl-Anthony Towns to center and starting Guerschon Yabusele at power forward.

“Whatever coach says, I’ll go with his word,” Hukporti said Tuesday.

Hart missed the final four preseason games. He is doing more running and court work, but the Knicks do not want to rush him.

It immediately puts a dent into a bench unit the Knicks were confident is much deeper than last year’s.

Without Hart, it could mean a bigger workload for Yabusele or open up a path to Landry Shamet seeing action.

“We’re trying to figure out his back, which is a tricky situation, so we have to be careful with it,” Brown said. “We don’t want to rush him. We’ll be patient and figure it out as we go along.”