It wasn’t that long ago that DeAndre Jordan was considered to be part of a “big three” for the Clippers. Immediately after that, he became a coveted free agent. Now, he’s on the Knicks, and nobody (I mean NOBODY) is treating the Knicks like they have a top-five center in the game. And if you were to ask most Knicks fans who the superior center was on the team, they would probably answer Mitchell Robinson. Some might still say DeAndre Jordan, but probably not that many. Hopefully none of them would say Luke Kornet. And I REALLY hope that nobody would answer the question with “Enes Kanter”.
Robinson is, at this point, simply a more dynamic and entertaining player than DAJ. DAJ is still roughly as good as he’s always been, but he’s a known quantity at this point, and without a point guard like Chris Paul throwing endless lobs to him, his style of play isn’t that exciting. Robinson, meanwhile, is doing all sorts of fun stuff: catching lobs, blocking three-pointers, converting acrobatic layups, and crashing the offensive glass for ferocious putback whamjams. That’s what the center of the future looks like for the Knicks. Not some guy who’s on a one-year deal who won’t re-sign with the team.
Somewhere, Luke Kornet is angrily telling his mom over the phone, “But I’m the one who can shoot threes!”