Team news / Published 2026-11-05

Mitchell Robinson's Boston start has not gone to plan

Robinson left the Knicks for a three-year, $47.4 million deal in Boston and is averaging 6.2 points and 4.4 rebounds through six games. Hoops Rumors reported a career-low 4.5 rebounds per game and a Boston team that has been outscored by 16 points per 100 possessions with him on the floor.

(See the reader poll and source context below).

Boston signed Mitchell Robinson to a three-year, .4 million deal to add size. Six games in, he is averaging 4.4 rebounds and his coach is explaining why the fit is not automatic.

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Mitchell Robinson is off to troubling Celtics start after bolting Knicks for $47 million dealReported context: [object Object] [object Object] [object Object] [object Object] [object Object]Not recordedNot recorded
Atlantic Notes: Robinson, Tatum, Traore, Minott, PhilonReported context: [object Object] [object Object] [object Object]Not recordedNot recorded

THE SHORT VERSION

  • Robinson left the Knicks for a three-year, $47.4 million deal in Boston and is averaging 6.2 points and 4.4 rebounds through six games.
  • Hoops Rumors reported a career-low 4.5 rebounds per game and a Boston team that has been outscored by 16 points per 100 possessions with him on the floor.
  • Robinson said he has not found his rhythm; Mazzulla pointed to how far from the rim the Celtics have used him.
  • The Celtics are treating it as a small sample and a coaching problem, not a verdict on the signing.

The deal and the start

When Boston signed Mitchell Robinson in the summer, the move read as a straightforward one: a contender adding a proven rim protector and offensive rebounder from a team it had just beaten for a title.

The contract was a three-year, $47.4 million pact, and it came after the Knicks declined to bring him back following the franchise's first championship in decades.

The first six games have not matched the idea. Robinson is averaging 6.2 points and 4.4 rebounds, with 0.7 blocks, and his on-court rating sits at minus-42.

Hoops Rumors framed it more sharply, noting a career-low 4.5 rebounds per game and a Boston team that has been outscored by 16 points per 100 possessions during his minutes. That is an odd combination for a center whose reputation was built on exactly those two things.

What Robinson says

Robinson has not argued with the numbers. After coming off the bench for the first time this season on Monday, he described a problem he has not solved rather than one he has explained away.

"I don't know (what it is), to be honest," Robinson said of his slow start. "I know I have to figure it out soon."

He said the situation is new but the game is not, and that the things he does naturally should still be available to him.

“It's new, but at the end of the day it's still basketball. The things that I do naturally, I should just still be doing. And I don't know, I just haven't found my rhythm yet.”

Mazzulla explains the usage

Joe Mazzulla's answer was more specific, and it was about usage rather than effort. Robinson has built his value close to the rim, on the offensive glass and as a screen-and-roll finisher.

Boston has asked him to do some of that work from further out, which changes the geometry that made him effective.

"I would say for his offensive rebounding impact, we have him a little bit further away from the rim setting screens and play-making for us on the perimeter as part of our offense," Mazzulla said. "I think that has a little bit to do with it."

That is a coaching answer in the literal sense: the staff believes the role is the variable, which means the fix is available without waiting for the player to change.

Mazzulla's public message

Mazzulla has been careful not to make Robinson the story. His public comments have spread the responsibility across the team, including himself.

"None of us have met the expectations, myself included," Mazzulla said, per The Boston Globe. "I have to be better, and it goes down the line."

He also defended Robinson's approach, saying he likes where the center is at mentally and how he has worked at the things the staff has asked of him.

The tone matters for a team with title expectations. A first-month slump from a new starter is easier to manage when the coach is describing a process problem rather than a personnel mistake.

The fit question

There are two ways to read the start. The first is that six games is an extremely small sample, and that a center changing systems in November is not the same player he will be in February.

The second is that the fit was always going to be awkward. Robinson's value comes from vertical spacing and second chances, and Boston's offense asks its bigs to handle the ball and move away from the paint.

There have also been smaller, more worrying signals. The Boston Globe reported speculation that Robinson arrived at camp in underwhelming physical shape, and Yahoo Sports noted that teammates have had trouble finding him for alley-oops.

None of that is disqualifying on its own. Together, it explains why the Celtics are being asked about a signing they expected to be a depth upgrade rather than a project, and why Mazzulla keeps getting questions about how the center is being used.

What fixes it

The most likely correction is schematic. If Boston moves Robinson closer to the rim in screening actions, his offensive rebounding and finishing should return to something near his career rates, and the lineup numbers should follow.

The harder question is defensive. Robinson's reputation was built on protecting the paint and holding up in drop coverage, and those habits do not need a new system so much as repetition in it.

The Celtics also have the option of using him as a matchup big rather than a fixed starter, which is roughly what the Knicks did in the seasons when he was healthiest. That version of the role is still available to them.

For now, the honest summary is that a team with championship expectations has a new center who is not yet helping, a player who says he cannot explain it, and a coach who thinks the role is the reason. Six games is not enough to settle that, but it is enough to make it a question.

Sources & reporting limits

  1. Mitchell Robinson is off to troubling Celtics start after bolting Knicks for $47 million deal
  2. Atlantic Notes: Robinson, Tatum, Traore, Minott, Philon
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