June 27, 6:30 a.m. ET Update:Front Office Sports confirmed the New York Post’s initial report of Mitchel Robinson’s “unlikely” return to the Knicks. The most important nugget, however, is that the FOS’ source revealed why New York actually doesn’t want to get into the second apron by bringing Mitch back.
“League sources confirmed the Post’s report to Front Office Sports, and cited Robinson’s extensive injury history and free throw issues as reasons to avoid going into the second apron to give Robinson another raise. Third-string center Ariel Hukporti presents a younger (24) and cheaper ($1.9 million salary) option to replace Robinson internally.”
June 26, 10:30 a.m. ET Update: According to Jake Fischer, the Brooklyn Nets have “legitimate interest” in signing Mitchell Robinson, while the LA Lakers are “regarded as a likely suitor.”
June 26, 9 a.m. ET Update: Fred Katz wrote a full story on the second-apron situation and explained how the Knicks reached this point and where things stand. According to Katz, the belief across the NBA is that the front office wants to get into the second apron, while Dolan is refusing to allow them to. Emphasis mine:
“The Knicks’ front office understands that dipping below the second apron would lead to much of its depth flocking elsewhere, which is why, despite Dolan’s desires, it wants to go over the second apron, according to league sources, who were granted anonymity to speak freely. But so far, Dolan has not changed his mind.”
June 26, 5:30 a.m. ET Update: Shout-out Andrew Claudio for bringing this to my timeline. While the Knicks’ financial plans for next season already seemed rather clear, James L. Edwards and Fred Katz just confirmed on the “Katz & Shoot” podcast that the Knicks’ front office was “blindsided” by James Dolan’s second-apron comments.
“It sounds like a mandate from Dolan, that was my takeaway from the draft,” Edwards said. “To be clear, the ‘not going into the second apron stuff,’ the front office did not advise that… It was not like the front office went to Doland and was like, ‘No, strategically, (it’s helfpful) to not go into the second apron;’ that didn’t happen. Then Dolan went on the radio and people in the Knicks were like ‘Wait, what?’” Katz explained. “They were blindsided,” Edwards finished.
“The Knicks’ front office understands that if they don’t go into the second apron, they’re gonna lose guys, and if they just let guys walk, then they are not going to be able to get equivalent guys back, because they won’t have the room,” Katz said.
The New York Knicks are expected to lose center Mitchell Robinson in free agency.
According to the New York Post’s Stefan Bondy, Robinson is “unlikely to return to the Knicks next season,” mostly because of New York’s self-imposed financial cap.
“Heard it’s unlikely Mitchell Robinson will be back with Knicks next season. He’s longest tenured Knick but also an unrestricted free agent. Owner James Dolan said he’s unwilling to pay into second apron so running it back with bench is not feasible.” — New York Post’s Stefan Bondy
According to Bondy’s sources, the longest-tenured Knick, with the team since New York drafted him with the No. 36 pick in the 2008 NBA Draft, is expected to depart and put an end to his time in New York shortly after becoming a champion.
Robinson’s situation is tied directly to the franchise’s financial stance, with Knicks owner James Dolan making it clear his organization will not cross the second apron this summer, even though that would inevitably lead to breaking the title-winning core, with the exception of the under-contract starting five.
“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,” Dolan said. “I’ll write as big of a check as possible, but I can’t write a check that goes into the second apron.”
Dolan’s mandate has already influenced New York’s early offseason moves, including trading out of the 2026 NBA Draft’s first round to avoid adding guaranteed salary to its books, ultimately landing two second-round rookies that will likely sign minimum or two-way contracts.
Meanwhile, SNY’s Ian Begley added that retaining Robinson would likely require a pay cut from the big man, which feels highly unlikely given his value on the open market has increased and multiple suitors—the Los Angeles Lakers and the Sacramento Kings among them—could enter a bidding war for his services.
“It’s unlikely Mitchell Robinson returns to the Knicks because, in the best case scenario, he’d have to take a pay cut in order for NYK to remain under 2nd apron.” — SNY’s Ian Begley
Even out of the upcoming free-agency context, there is no realistic scenario in which Robinson, who isn’t necessarily old (he will play next season at age 28) but has only appeared in 167 games of the last possible 328 (51%) in the regular season, would take such a massive pay cut to fit the Knicks’ books.
Robinson has completed a four-year, $60 million deal with an average annual salary of $15 million per year. As things stand, per Yossi Gozlan, Mitch would need to take a substantial discount and sign for around $8-$9 million for New York to retain him. The word out there is that the Lakers and Kings would start their pitches at Robinson’s current $15-million-per-year salary with the expectation that the figure would increase.
Earlier on Thursday, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst already said that “There is a real possibility that (the Knicks) won’t keep Mitch Robinson.”
“There is a real possibility that they won’t keep Mitch Robinson. The Knicks are working on it. They made several different moves to free up about $4 million in airspace under the apron. There’s a possibility they may trade off another player to save some money. They’re trying to figure out Mitch Robinson, but I would say it’s not a guarantee that it will work. I would say Mitch Robinson is 50/50… maybe 51/49 to come back.” — ESPN’s Brian Windhorst
If Mitch has played his last game as a Knick, he’d leave New York with 397 regular-season games under his belt, averaging 7.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks. On top of that, he appeared in 53 postseason games, putting up 4.9 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 0.9 blocks per game.
With free agency nearing, the gap between Robinson’s market value and what the Knicks can offer appears to make his return to Manhattan unlikely. Blame it on the little room for maneuvering imposed by the NBA’s second apron, but mostly on Dolan’s stubbornness. Some things never change.
