Knicks’ James Dolan on next season’s roster construction: ‘Cannot go into the second apron’

Turnover in professional sports is common, especially when it’s a salary cap sport.

But after the Knicks’ generational run culminated with their first NBA Championship in 53 years, is it possible that notable names won’t be returning next season?

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Well, Knicks owner James Dolan was a guest on WFAN’s Carton Show on Wednesday and was asked what the chances are that some players won’t be returning, and Dolan was honest.

“If we could bring back the whole team, exactly as is, why wouldn’t you?” he said. “I don’t know if we’ll be able to… We’re willing to stretch, but there’s certain things in the NBA that you’d have to be suicidal to do. One of them is the second apron. Cannot go into the second apron.”

The second apron in the NBA is, essentially, a cap that penalizes teams that overspend.

Dolan points out that most of their team is under contract, a few guys aren’t, but he’ll leave the roster construction to team president Leon Rose and he’s willing to spend big, just not go into that second apron.

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“I’ll write as big of a check as possible, but I can’t write a check that goes into the second apron,” Dolan said.

So, what does that mean for the Knicks? It’s hard to say, but Jonathan Macri of Knicks Film Skool put it succinctly on social media.

The second apron is set at $222 million with the five starters (Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, Josh Hart, Karl-Anthony Towns), Miles McBride and Jose Alvarado making $200 million. To fill a 14-player roster, the Knicks will have to make some hard decisions to stay under the second apron.

The biggest question mark is Mitchell Robinson. The longest-tenured Knick is set to be an unrestricted free agent this offseason and will likely get a big payday on the open market. He made nearly $13 million this past season. The big man could be the first casualty of the Knicks’ offseason.

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Alvarado does have a player option that would pay him $4.5 million next season. If he doesn’t exercise it and hits the market, that would free up space, but the assumption is that the guard will stay with the Knicks.

Other notable unrestricted free agents to be are…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/knicks-james-dolan-next-seasons-224527855.html

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Publish date : 2026-06-17 22:45:00

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