The New York Knicks are officially NBA Champions. They built their success on the back of an effective front office and strong culture. But no teams are completely satisfied with one championship. While the NBA hasn’t had back-to-back champions since the Golden State Warriors did it eight seasons ago, New York might not even get the chance to repeat as champions if team owner James Dolan has his way.
Will James Dolan forego keeping championship roster next season?
Dolan recently said on WFAN radio that he will not spend recklessly this offseason. Specifically, he hopes to avoid exceeding the NBA’s second apron, which is a punitive salary cap rule meant to prevent teams from hoarding talent.
"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. I'll write as big of a check as possible, but I can't write a check that goes into the second apron."
– James Dolan on @CartonShowWFAN pic.twitter.com/KJFIccCnMf
— SNY Knicks (@sny_knicks) June 17, 2026
New York enters the 2026 offseason with eight players under contract: Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart, OG Anunoby, Karl-Anthony Towns, Tyler Kolek, Miles McBride, and Pacome Dadiet. They also own three draft picks including the 24th overall, which will carry a guaranteed salary if they make the pick. Additionally, they own a team option on Jose Alvarado ($4.5 million).
In total, the Knicks will enter free agency with approximately $210 million in commitments for 2026-27. They’ll have about $13 million in cap space, and they’ll need to add four players. If the Knicks were to sign four minimum deals, they would technically duck the second apron. However, that means no Mitchell Robinson or Landry Shamet.
Who might go unsigned and how might it impact Knicks in 2026-27?
Losing Robinson and Shamet would hurt. Robinson was often times the team’s defensive anchor and best offensive rebounder. In fact, it can be argued that Robinson’s clutch rebound off of a late missed free throw in Game 5 of the NBA Finals secured the team’s championship. And Shamet made big plays time and again in the playoffs.
Sadly, a select few teams, like the Los Angeles Lakers—who are in need of an impact center—have cap space. So, it’s feasible that Robinson gets an offer that poaches him away from the Knicks. New York does, in fact, own Robinson’s full Bird rights. Thus, he can re-sign—but it will require Dolan and the Knicks to exceed the punitive second apron.
Shamet’s market is tougher to gauge. Shamet will probably draw contract offers in the neighborhood of $10 million per year. The Knicks can technically use the taxpayer mid-level exception (MLE), which comes out to approximately $6 million per year for two seasons. That requires a sacrifice from Shamet. But it would also hard cap the Knicks at the second apron, meaning they cannot go one penny over the $222 million line.
There’s also Mohamed Diawara to consider. Diawara is in a similar situation to Isaiah Hartenstein in that the Knicks do not own his full Bird rights. Thus, they can only offer him 120% of what he made in 2025-26. So, if a team wants to offer him something in excess of $5 million for 2026-27, New York can’t match it.
Ultimately, Dolan might have to come to terms with the idea of exceeding the second apron. Why? The alternative is to lose at least one, and possibly more, impact players.
So, while Dolan might be balking at the idea of going over the second apron, he may cave because the alternative is to waste a precious year with his core in their respective primes. And that’s unwise for NBA champions.
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