The Knicks’ center picture just got murkier.
With free agency approaching, New York is already staring at a possible hole in the middle, and Monday night brought another twist: the team declined to tender a qualifying offer to third-string center Ariel Hukporti, according to ESPN’s Vincent Goodwill. That offer was worth $2.65 million for the 2026-27 season, and the decision sends Hukporti into unrestricted free agency.
It’s a notable call because Hukporti had looked like one of the safer pieces in the Knicks’ big-man mix. He has played in 79 regular season games over two seasons in New York, and while his game doesn’t exactly jump off the screen, he has earned trust with the kind of work that matters on the margins.
He rebounds, defends, sets screens, plays with effort and keeps the mistakes to a minimum. When the Knicks needed him in the postseason, he gave them useful minutes, including in Game 5 of the NBA Finals, when the championship was clinched.
That makes this move feel more like roster math than a verdict on Hukporti himself. Mitchell Robinson’s future in New York is already uncertain after owner James Dolan’s directive to stay away from the second apron, and the Landry Shamet re-signing on Monday only adds to the pressure on the Knicks to manage every dollar carefully.
There is a path where Hukporti still ends up back in New York. Jeremy Cohen of Knicks Film School noted that Hukporti’s minimum salary for next season would be $2.45 million, so the gap between that and the qualifying offer is just $200,000. For a team trying to keep its books clean enough to avoid the second apron, that kind of difference can matter.
So this could simply be a maneuver designed to preserve flexibility. The Knicks and Hukporti may already have an understanding that the qualifying offer would be pulled, only for him to return on the minimum. If that’s the plan, the Knicks save a little and Hukporti still lands in a familiar spot.
But letting him reach the open market carries real risk. A dependable backup center has value, and another team could decide Hukporti is worth more than a minimum salary on a longer deal. That would be a gamble, sure, but it’s also the kind of move a rival might make if it sees a chance to weaken the Knicks, who are now the reigning champions.
And Hukporti isn’t the only center issue hanging over the front office. If Robinson does leave, New York will need another answer at the position.
One rumored name is Kevon Looney, the 30-year-old veteran who would bring defense and locker-room steadiness. Jock Landale has also been mentioned, though he could command more money elsewhere.
The Knicks have shown they can work through layers of contingency plans. Still, with free agency getting closer, sorting out the center rotation looks like the job that sits at the top of the list.
In Other News...
Knicks Just Made A Surprising Ariel Hukporti Decision
Ariel Hukportis first full look with the Knicks gave the team a chance to evaluate him across a long regular season, and the early returns were modest. He appeared in 54 games in 2025-26, averaging 2.2 points and 2.9 rebounds, and his role never grew into something that clearly locked him in as part of the clubs long-term center picture.
Now his future is suddenly up in the air, with New York leaving him in restricted free agency and signaling that it may be weighing other answers behind Karl-Anthony Towns. The Knicks could still bring Hukporti back if the market is quiet enough, but for now the sense is that the front office is looking around for a different backup option and keeping its plans fluid. [Read more 🡒]
Knicks May Already Have A Fallback Plan If Their Center Walks
The Knicks center situation could take a familiar turn in free agency, with the possibility of Mitchell Robinson becoming too expensive to retain if salary-cap realities get tight. Brooklyns interest in Robinson adds another wrinkle, and it has already pushed New York to think about a veteran backup plan if the market moves faster than expected.
Brook Lopez is the name that keeps surfacing in that conversation, though his path to availability still depends on what happens with his current team option. Even after a season in which some of his production dipped, Lopez would give New York a proven interior presence and a stretch-big skill set that could let the club manage his workload rather than lean on him for heavy minutes. [Read more 🡒]