The New York Knicks just ended a 53-year title drought. But the champagne is barely dry and already the front office is staring down a real headache. Team owner James Dolan made it clear this week that crossing the NBA’s second apron is off the table. That stance puts a couple of key free agents in a tough spot.
Dolan went on WFAN’s The Carton Show and basically said the cap rules are designed to scare teams off. “We’re willing to stretch, but there’s certain things in the NBA that you’d have to be suicidal to do,” he said. “One of them is called the second apron. Cannot go into the second apron.”
That’s a pretty direct message. And it puts Leon Rose and his cap guys in a bind. The second apron isn’t just a luxury tax line. It comes with real restrictions — you can’t aggregate salaries in trades, you lose access to the taxpayer mid-level exception, you can’t do sign-and-trades, you can’t even send cash in deals. It’s basically roster-building handcuffs.
So who’s most at risk? Mitchell Robinson stands out. The veteran center played serious minutes during the title run and should have a solid market this summer. CBS Sports’ Sam Quinn pegged his likely starting point around the $15.1 million non-taxpayer mid-level exception. Keeping him without blowing past the apron would be tough. Quinn put it bluntly: “The immediate answer here would be that it is unlikely.”
The Knicks could shuffle some money around by trading picks or moving younger contracts. But there’s no guarantee they can match what another team offers Robinson. If a team with cap space throws the full mid-level at him, New York might just have to let him walk.
Landry Shamet is also in a dicey spot. His market won’t be as big as Robinson’s, but he’s an unrestricted free agent at a time when every dollar counts. If the Knicks prioritize keeping their core together and staying flexible, Shamet could end up as the odd man out. The front office has to decide where to allocate its limited resources, and Shamet might not make the cut.
There are other free agents too. Jordan Clarkson is hitting the market. Jose Alvarado has a player option for next season. But Robinson and Shamet look like the two most obvious candidates to leave — not because the Knicks want to lose them, but because the financial math just doesn’t work.
Rose and cap specialist Brock Aller are good at what they do. They’ll try to keep as much of the title team together as possible. But Dolan drawing a hard line on the second apron makes it clear there’s a limit. And when the owner says something like that publicly, you know the front office has already started making tough calls behind closed doors.
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