The Knicks’ first championship in 53 years should have been pure, unfiltered bliss for the fan base. And in a lot of ways, it still is. But the afterglow has been dulled just a bit by a familiar modern NBA headache: the second apron.
That shadow has already changed the way New York operates. Soon after the title, owner James Dolan called going into the second apron “suicidal.” The Knicks stayed under it, and the price was steep - they lost their longest-tenured player, Mitchell Robinson, who is now with the Boston Celtics.
Now the same financial pressure is hanging over the next round of business. Contract talks, especially with Karl-Anthony Towns, have become part of the conversation around the champs.
Towns and the Knicks are reportedly far apart on an extension, and New York wants to structure any new deal in a way that keeps the team under the second apron. That becomes even trickier if Jalen Brunson lands a maximum extension in 2027, a four-year deal worth around $290 million, according to The Athletic’s Fred Katz.
Towns has a player option worth more than $61 million in 2027-28, which makes his situation especially important for the team’s future spending picture. And because he’s the most expensive piece in the mix, the ripple effect reaches the rest of the roster.
Josh Hart and Miles McBride are next in line, but their extension leverage figures to be limited until Towns’ situation is sorted out. Hart has a $22.4 million team option for 2027-28, while McBride is set to become an unrestricted free agent. McBride has been one of the best bargains in the NBA, so a significant raise would make sense for him.
None of that changes the fact that the Knicks finally got the championship they spent decades chasing. That memory is secure. It’s just that, for now, the talk around extensions and the second apron has taken a little of the shine off the celebration.
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Knicks Already Showing Something Fans Will Love Inside The Locker Room
The preseason results have not been kind so far, with the Knicks falling again to the Wizards and slipping to 0-2, but there was still a little something to like in the aftermath. Josh Hart and Jalen Brunson, who have built a longstanding friendship as teammates, brought some easygoing energy to a postgame media session that suggested the locker room mood is still loose even when the scoreboard is not.
For Mike Brown, that kind of chemistry matters as much as any exhibition loss in October, especially with time left to tweak the rotation before the regular season begins. The Knicks are still sorting out how they want to look when the games count, but between Hart and Brunson, there is already evidence of the kind of comfort and familiarity teams hope carries over once the schedule gets real. [Read more 🡒]
Knicks Came Surprisingly Close To Watching Jalen Brunson Become The Enemy
Jalen Brunsons rise in New York is already one of the franchises defining modern moves, but it almost looked very different before he ever signed with the Knicks. Brunson remains the lone NBA superstar to change teams via free agency this decade, and the path that brought him from Dallas to Manhattan was shaped by a chain of draft decisions and trade conversations that still echo through both organizations.
The Mavericks were weighing their options around the 2020 draft and had enough asset flexibility to make the kind of move that could have changed the leagues balance in a hurry. For the Knicks, the fascinating part is how close the story came to turning Brunson from the player who steadied their backcourt into something far less pleasant to deal with, with a different set of circumstances potentially sending his career and the rivalry in a completely different direction. [Read more 🡒]
Knicks May Finally Have A Real Way To Move On From Dadiet
Pacome Dadiets spot on the Knicks roster has become one of those quiet situations that tends to linger until a team finds the right lever to pull. New York has reasons to keep looking around, too. Dadiet has not given the club much on the floor, and the Knicks are always weighing ways to clear room, both on the roster and on the books, as they try to keep their flexibility intact.
The interesting part is that the Knicks now have more ways to grease a deal than they did not long ago. With extra future second-round picks in hand, they can make a modest trade more appealing if another team is willing to take a chance on Dadiet. Teams with cap room or trade exceptions can be part of that conversation, which opens the door to a handful of possible partners and leaves New York with a real path to moving on if it decides the time is right. [Read more 🡒]