Mitchell Robinson (23) of the Knicks celebrates as the game ends...

Mitchell Robinson (23) of the Knicks celebrates as the game ends against the Chicago Bulls at Madison Square Garden on Feb. 29, 2020. Credit: TNS/Elsa

When the trade deadline passed Thursday, Tom Thibodeau talked about the front office’s well-executed plan. But it took just six minutes Saturday night for the plans to be blown to bits.

The Knicks believed that Mitchell Robinson would be back in the starting lineup for the stretch run this season, giving the team a boost on the court and providing a measuring stick for the offseason, letting them know just how much of the future they wanted to commit to the athletic but still raw 22-year-old center.

But when Robinson came down awkwardly on a steal in the first quarter in Milwaukee, he suffered a fractured right foot, throwing the Knicks’ plans into disarray. The team did not provide an update on Sunday after his reevaluation in New York, but he is expected to miss the remainder of the season.

Content to use Robinson, Nerlens Noel and Taj Gibson, the Knicks passed on trading for a big man. When the buyout market opened, they watched as LaMarcus Aldridge headed to the Nets and backed out on pursuing Andre Drummond. That may have changed with the injury to Robinson, but on Sunday, Drummond’s agent told ESPN that he was headed to the Lakers to chase a title alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

The Knicks (24-22) are in fourth place in the Eastern Conference, six games ahead of 11th-place Toronto with 26 games left. Having gone 9-6 when Robinson was out with a fractured right hand — he returned from that injury last week — the Knicks can reasonably expect to be in the battle for a postseason spot this season.

That puts them out of the mix of tanking teams jockeying for Ping-Pong balls in the NBA Draft Lottery, so they may as well continue with what Thibodeau has stressed from the day he took over — skip no steps, but also try to win every game.

The Knicks still have Robinson under their control. He can become a restricted free agent in the offseason if the Knicks don’t pick up the $1.8 million option on his deal. But if they do use that option, he can become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2022. The Knicks had hoped to see how far they could go with him this season, which would help them assess his future with the team.

A player the team was considering, Gorgui Dieng, who played for Thibodeau in Minnesota and would have provided a different skill set from Robinson or Noel, reportedly is heading to the San Antonio Spurs after being waived by the Memphis Grizzlies. A player who could fit Thibodeau’s defense-first desire for his big men would be Hassan Whiteside if the Sacramento Kings work out a buyout of his expiring low-cost contract.

Other possibilities right now include DeMarcus Cousins, who is without a job, and Skal Labissiere, who played for the University of Kentucky and the Westchester Knicks. John Henson, who has not played this season, and Norvel Pelle, who had brief stints with the Nets and Sacramento this season, could fill out the end of the roster.

Meyers Leonard was cut loose by Oklahoma City after being traded from Miami, but it’s hard to imagine the Knicks bringing him on board after his very public troubles with an anti-Semitic slur on a gaming video.

One intriguing player is 34-year-old Al Horford, but it is a strange situation for the Knicks or any team interested. He and the Oklahoma City Thunder announced Saturday that he will not be on the active roster anymore this season and will work out at the team facility while the Thunder give his minutes to younger players.

But there is no indication that the two sides will agree to a buyout with Horford due $27 million next season and $26 million the following season ($14.5 million guaranteed). So even if the Knicks wanted him in the offseason, it’s hard to imagine committing their cap space to him and dealing away assets to the rebuilding Thunder.

Woodson to Indiana. A league source confirmed reports that Knicks assistant coach and former head coach Mike Woodson has left the team to fill the head-coaching vacancy at his alma mater, Indiana.

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