The New York Knicks have reached the summit of the NBA mountain, ending a 53-year wait for a championship and establishing themselves as the league’s team to beat.
But as the celebrations fade and attention turns towards next season, team president Leon Rose faces a different challenge: the second apron.
Under the NBA’s latest collective bargaining agreement, teams operating above the second apron, which is set at $222 million for 2026-27, face a series of punitive roster-building restrictions: no aggregating contracts in trades, no sending cash out, no taking back more salary than you give.
That matters because James Dolan, owner of MSG Sports, has explicitly said that he does not want the franchise crossing that line.
Rose has roughly $191 million committed to the starting five alone. Karl-Anthony Towns is due to earn approximately $53.1m next season, while OG Anunoby ($39.6m), Jalen Brunson ($34.9m), Mikal Bridges ($24.9m) and Josh Hart ($19.5m) form the rest of the foundation.
With the remainder of the roster, the Knicks are projected to sit in the low-$200m range in team salary, leaving an estimated $16.5 million of breathing room below the second apron.
Crucially, that figure accounts for just eight players under guaranteed contract, before any free agents are re-signed or draft picks added.
The reality, then, is that the Knicks may struggle to retain this roster without crossing the second apron.
Mitchell Robinson and Landry Shamet alone would consume more than that available headroom. And both are fast approaching unrestricted free agency.
That is before factoring in draft picks, restricted free agents, or the new contract just signed by Mohamed Diawara. For that reason, many analysts now regard going over the second apron as a near-inevitability. The more relevant question is whether Dolan ultimately signs off on it.
There is some relief in the CBA mechanics. The most punitive second-apron consequences (frozen mid-level exceptions, restricted trade flexibility, draft pick limitations) only become fully binding in the third consecutive year above the threshold. That gives the Knicks a workable window through the end of the 2027-28 season before needing to reset.
But Dolan’s desire to stay below the second apron does, on face value, look exceedingly difficult while simultaneously attempting to retain the magic that won them the championship.
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