Knicks HC Tom Thibodeau gives positive update on Mitchell Robinson

It is looking very likely that Mitchell Robinson will be on the court when the Knicks open up their regular season next Wednesday.

In fact, Tom Thibodeau said that he could "ideally" be available for Friday's preseason game.

"Every day, there’s more contact, there’s more that he’s doing, and you want to see how he’s doing the next day. And there’s still the conditioning element of it, so he’s done a lot. He’s come back every night. He’s put a lot of extra work in. We feel good about where he is," Thibodeau told reporters before Wednesday's preseason game against the Detroit Pistons.

The newly beefed-up Robinson had some hurdles to clear a couple of weeks ago, but it seems that he is made quite some progress.

Robinson is entering a contract year, and was averaging 8.3 points and a career-high 8.1 rebounds per game before getting hurt last year.

“He’s a unique player, the things that he brings to our team," Thibodeau said, "... and it’s not just on the defensive end. … But offensively, he adds a lot to our team as well, just putting pressure on the rim. You throw the ball anywhere up near the rim, he’s got great hands, he’ll go get it. He’s very good with dribble hand-offs and that sort of thing. We miss him offensively, too.”