Mitchell Robinson is leaving the New York Knicks for the Boston Celtics on a three-year, $47.4 million deal that includes a player option in the final season. Boston used its full non-taxpayer mid-level exception to get the deal done, a move that hard-caps the team at the first apron.

Robinson comes to Boston fresh off winning the 2026 NBA championship with New York, where he averaged 5.7 points, 8.8 rebounds and 1.2 blocks across 60 games last season.

A rebounder Boston needed

Robinson’s per-36-minute numbers tell a clearer story than his box score averages. He pulled down 16.1 rebounds per 36 minutes last season, a rate that puts him among the league’s best on the glass whenever he’s on the floor.

What he doesn’t do well is shoot free throws. His 40.8 percent from the line last season was a career low, and it’s the one obvious hole in an otherwise complete defensive-center profile. Teams have historically tried to exploit that by fouling him late in close games.

For Boston, the trade-off is straightforward. They’re paying for rebounding and rim protection, not scoring, and accepting the free-throw liability that comes with it.

The cost of using the full exception

Committing the entire non-taxpayer mid-level exception to one signing is a significant allocation decision. It hard-caps Boston at the first tax apron, limiting the team’s flexibility to add further via trade or free agency for the rest of the roster-building cycle.

That’s the price of adding a 28-year-old, 7-foot center who just won a title and is walking into a frontcourt role that should be simpler than what he had in New York, where minutes and touches were more contested.

What Robinson’s exit means for the Knicks

New York loses a rotation piece who was part of a championship roster, opening a frontcourt spot the Knicks will need to address elsewhere in free agency. Losing a title-winning center for nothing in return, since this was a straight free agency departure rather than a trade, stings more given how thin depth behind the position already was.

For Boston, the calculation is simpler: a proven rebounder walks in with a ring, and the hard cap is the cost of doing business.

Robinson won a title in New York. Boston is paying to see if his rebounding travels better than his free-throw shooting does.