Knicks Owner Vows to Keep Team Under NBA’s Second Tax Apron
knicks-owner-dolan-aims-to-stay-below-second-tax-apron
New York Knicks owner James Dolan said he will do everything possible to prevent the franchise from crossing the NBA’s second luxury-tax apron, calling the move “suicidal” during an appearance on WFAN’s “The Carton Show.”
“There’s certain things in the NBA that you’d have to be suicidal to do,” Dolan told host Craig Carton in the interview that aired Wednesday. “One of them is the second apron. I’ll write as big of a check as possible, but I can’t write a check that goes into the second apron.”
Payroll Already Near the Limit
The Knicks, fresh off their first championship in 53 years, have roughly $201 million committed to eight guaranteed contracts for 2026-27. Centerpiece Karl-Anthony Towns carries a $57 million salary, and most of the remaining money is tied up in fellow starters OG Anunoby, Miles Bridges, Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart.
The league projects the second apron at $221.7 million next season, leaving New York little room to retain key rotation players without triggering the harsher tax tier.
Key Free Agents
Several contributors are headed for free agency:
- Mitchell Robinson, Landry Shamet and Jordan Clarkson enter unrestricted free agency.
- Mohamed Diawara and Ariel Hukporti will be restricted free agents.
- Jose Alvarado holds a $4.5 million player option; opting in would further tighten the cap picture.
A market-rate deal for Robinson alone could push payroll to the brink of the second apron. Keeping Robinson, Alvarado and Shamet almost certainly would send the club past the threshold, and the roster would still need additional contracts to reach the minimum of 14 players.
Re-signing Diawara could be difficult if another team makes an aggressive offer; New York possesses only his Non-Bird rights after the forward played in 69 regular-season games and saw limited postseason action.
Restrictions Above the Second Apron
Teams above the second apron face sweeping limitations, including:
- No use of any part of the mid-level exception.
- No ability to aggregate multiple player salaries in a trade.
- Prohibition on sending cash in trades.
- Ineligibility to acquire a player via sign-and-trade for salary matching.
- Restriction on using traded-player exceptions generated by sign-and-trade deals.
- Freezing of the team’s first-round pick seven years out, making it untradeable while above the apron.
Dolan did not specify whether his stance is driven primarily by those competitive restrictions or by payroll concerns. Either way, avoiding the second apron likely would force New York to fill most bench slots with veteran-minimum contracts and rookie deals.
Source: Hoops Rumors
