Knicks · The really short off season for knicks! How to run it back? (page 7)

Knixkik @ 6/17/2026 6:35 PM
DLeethal wrote:Jimmy D was on Carton again basically saying zero chance we go into second apron.

This is very notable. I will say that his description/ explanation made it seem like he doesn’t really understand how it works. But it’s always very possible that they determined as an organization they will not go over until they absolutely have to. They just won a title and are essentially playing with house money right now. The longer they hold off going over the second apron, the longer they can keep the core group (maybe minus Mitch) together. You really have to play the long game with this. And you would need to have KAT take a dramatic paycut on his next contract for there not to be a 2 year expiration date on this group.

nycericanguy @ 6/17/2026 7:06 PM
DLeethal wrote:Jimmy D was on Carton again basically saying zero chance we go into second apron.

wonder if thats him postering, how would you not go into 2nd apron for this team?

if not you are filling 6 roster spots with $13.2m? good luck with that. Alvarado also has a 4.5m PO, so it could easily be 5 spots for less than $8m.

Why? Why gut the bench like that? Seems we were poised to over the 2nd apron for these next two seasons.

nycericanguy @ 6/17/2026 7:07 PM
Knixkik wrote:
DLeethal wrote:Jimmy D was on Carton again basically saying zero chance we go into second apron.

This is very notable. I will say that his description/ explanation made it seem like he doesn’t really understand how it works. But it’s always very possible that they determined as an organization they will not go over until they absolutely have to. They just won a title and are essentially playing with house money right now. The longer they hold off going over the second apron, the longer they can keep the core group (maybe minus Mitch) together. You really have to play the long game with this. And you would need to have KAT take a dramatic paycut on his next contract for there not to be a 2 year expiration date on this group.

Towns is making $56m next season, I would imagine by virtue of him extending it would save us some money. I could see him extending at 4/200m for instance which would be starting around $46m

TripleThreat @ 6/17/2026 7:33 PM
DLeethal wrote:Another thing Mikal gives you which is critical to building a DEEP team, is a guy with zero ego whatsoever, perfectly content being the 4th scorer. He at his peak powers is a borderline all star, who is fine being an afterthought. He's the best #4 option in the entire league, will never complain about touches or shots, and is perfectly content just being a connector and motion guy. Those guys do not grow on trees.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/pla...

*****


IMHO, no reason to trade Mikal Bridges. Do I like him? Sure. Do I think he cost too much to acquire? Yes. Do I think he's earning the value of his contract and extension? No.

But there's some "synergy" with the Villanova players that doesn't hit the stat sheet. No need to break up something that clearly works and has a successful "system" for it so far. The Knicks IMHO should keep their core 5 together for this next season for a repeat run.

It would help if Bridges stepped up more when one of Brunson , KAT or Anunoby are having an off game.

Who else do I think would be a useful offseason target?

Point Guard Yuki Kawamura. The Knicks have just enough defense to hide him if it got to that point. His long range shooting needs to improve, but his court vision and ability to break down a defense, plus his passing chops, are more than just a "novelty" factor here. He's on a two way contract with the Bulls now, but he shouldn't be hard to acquire if the Knicks want to make room for him. In the most technical sense, he's a Restricted Free Agent, however the Bulls have an incoming new coach, and that might mean Kawamura gets flushed off their roster. Just a smart steady player, and if the shooting improves some, there's value here IMHO.

To be fair, Kawamura is cheap and mostly available for a reason. But I believe he could help as a third point guard on the Knicks for the upcoming season.

TripleThreat @ 6/17/2026 7:54 PM
nycericanguy wrote:.... how would you not go into 2nd apron for this team?

****


Impact is more than cash and more than tax/repeater tax implications.

PatCummings @ 6/17/2026 8:01 PM
nycericanguy wrote:
DLeethal wrote:Jimmy D was on Carton again basically saying zero chance we go into second apron.

wonder if thats him postering, how would you not go into 2nd apron for this team?

if not you are filling 6 roster spots with $13.2m? good luck with that. Alvarado also has a 4.5m PO, so it could easily be 5 spots for less than $8m.

Why? Why gut the bench like that? Seems we were poised to over the 2nd apron for these next two seasons.

Agreed. The only advantage of the staying under the 2nd apron is that it makes it a little easier to keep Diawara

Here is a potential 14 man roster that’s about $500K under the 2nd apron. I assumed a trade of Deuce, Huk, 51 and other 2nds as needed to trade for a low 20’s pick to draft Ebuka Okorie. Keeping Deuce instead of Okorie means we’d give him the $500K cushion and need to reduce Shamet or Diawara by $500k.

I also assumed we draft Zuby at 24 and Reed at 31 to offset the loss of Mitch. We wouldn’t be able to keep Huk but we could keep Huk if we decided to trade 31

Player | 2026-27 Salary
Karl-Anthony Towns | $57,078,728
OG Anunoby | $42,500,000
Jalen Brunson | $37,739,521
Mikal Bridges | $33,482,145
Josh Hart | $20,923,760
Landry Shamet | $6,000,000
Jose Alvarado | $4,500,000
Mohamed Diawara | $4,200,000
Pacôme Dadiet | $2,983,680
Ebuka Okorie (Rookie) | $3,049,000
Zuby Ejiofor (Rookie) | $2,590,100
Tyler Kolek | $2,296,271
Kevin McCullar Jr. | $2,296,271
Tarris Reed Jr. (Rookie) | $1,800,000
TOTAL PAYROLL | $221,439,476

PatCummings @ 6/17/2026 8:03 PM
nycericanguy wrote:
Knixkik wrote:
DLeethal wrote:Jimmy D was on Carton again basically saying zero chance we go into second apron.

This is very notable. I will say that his description/ explanation made it seem like he doesn’t really understand how it works. But it’s always very possible that they determined as an organization they will not go over until they absolutely have to. They just won a title and are essentially playing with house money right now. The longer they hold off going over the second apron, the longer they can keep the core group (maybe minus Mitch) together. You really have to play the long game with this. And you would need to have KAT take a dramatic paycut on his next contract for there not to be a 2 year expiration date on this group.

Towns is making $56m next season, I would imagine by virtue of him extending it would save us some money. I could see him extending at 4/200m for instance which would be starting around $46m

That would be huge. It may not be enough to keep Mitch but at the very least it should allow us to keep Diawara and Shamet and have a 15th player

PatCummings @ 6/17/2026 8:05 PM
nycericanguy wrote:
Knixkik wrote:
DLeethal wrote:Jimmy D was on Carton again basically saying zero chance we go into second apron.

This is very notable. I will say that his description/ explanation made it seem like he doesn’t really understand how it works. But it’s always very possible that they determined as an organization they will not go over until they absolutely have to. They just won a title and are essentially playing with house money right now. The longer they hold off going over the second apron, the longer they can keep the core group (maybe minus Mitch) together. You really have to play the long game with this. And you would need to have KAT take a dramatic paycut on his next contract for there not to be a 2 year expiration date on this group.

Towns is making $56m next season, I would imagine by virtue of him extending it would save us some money. I could see him extending at 4/200m for instance which would be starting around $46m

Just realized he’s eligible for something like 4/$276M. Would he really give up $76M?

aggo @ 6/17/2026 8:16 PM
with Dolan saying they aren't going into the second apron


Mitch is prolly a goner.


Jock Landale you are a knick.

trade dadiet for future 2nd
trade the 31st for a future 2nd
draft 24
either ask Alvarado to decline or extend multi yr at a lower number than 4.5
focus on keeping shamet/diawara


the knicks wont do it, but the correct solution is to just trade mikal.

martin @ 6/17/2026 8:31 PM
You cannot beat math. The Knicks would have to make major concessions to get under second apron.

200m + 7 * 2.5m = 217.5m

Knicks will most likely go over cap or not really compete for another championship, one or the other.

nycericanguy @ 6/17/2026 9:14 PM
PatCummings wrote:
nycericanguy wrote:
Knixkik wrote:
DLeethal wrote:Jimmy D was on Carton again basically saying zero chance we go into second apron.

This is very notable. I will say that his description/ explanation made it seem like he doesn’t really understand how it works. But it’s always very possible that they determined as an organization they will not go over until they absolutely have to. They just won a title and are essentially playing with house money right now. The longer they hold off going over the second apron, the longer they can keep the core group (maybe minus Mitch) together. You really have to play the long game with this. And you would need to have KAT take a dramatic paycut on his next contract for there not to be a 2 year expiration date on this group.

Towns is making $56m next season, I would imagine by virtue of him extending it would save us some money. I could see him extending at 4/200m for instance which would be starting around $46m

Just realized he’s eligible for something like 4/$276M. Would he really give up $76M?

And Kolek is eligible for 4/92m but who's paying him that?...lol. KAT will be 31 and he's noticeably bigger. I think if Knicks extend him it's to LOWER his AAV, not raise it. I don't see anyone giving KAT 4/276m.

Gobert, Harden and Randle are recent examples of guys that took much less than max to add years to their contracts.

nycericanguy @ 6/17/2026 9:30 PM
Mitch, Deuce and Shamet are all very hard to price IMO.

Mitch wasn't all that great in the playoffs. His FT shooting has reached historically bad levels. And he looks like he's gained weight and not as fast.

All that being said, he's still a huge piece for us. But how would other teams value him? Is someone really going to pay him $20m to play 15-20mpg? At that money you are probably expecting Mitch to be your starting C and play at least 24-26mpg... and that's not a smart bet. He played 60 games and limited minutes for us, and that was a best case scenario where we really managed his load.

So really, I think you have to pay him as a backup, and that really lowers his value. I think 3/39 would be fair for him.

Deuce, again, nice player, but if there was any doubt that he's not a PG, he removed all those doubts in the playoffs. And he also struggled big time in the finals, losing minutes to Alvarado. I think he's also around 3/39m, but I think we might just be best off letting his contract play out next season.

Shamet had a really nice season, but it was right in line with his career averages, and yet he's always a vet min guy. And I think we saw, he had some great moments during the playoffs, but probably not a guy you can count on every game. I think his vet min being around $4m, I think that's right in line for him. Maybe a 120% raise to 5-6m over 2-3 years?

martin @ 6/17/2026 10:04 PM
Panos @ 6/17/2026 10:09 PM
Question: are the Knicks worse with Shamet in the SL instead of Mikal?
newyorknewyork @ 6/17/2026 10:10 PM
martin wrote:You cannot beat math. The Knicks would have to make major concessions to get under second apron.

200m + 7 * 2.5m = 217.5m

Knicks will most likely go over cap or not really compete for another championship, one or the other.

Imo they def could still compete for a chip with the starting 5. Would depend on the development of Mo, McCullar, Huk and the contributions of the #24 pick for the bench. It may set them back from getting back to back. But could pay off a year or 2 later if they decided to go that route.

If Mo is the player we believe he can be. That potentially offsets Mitch. Not exactly in the same exact contributions, but in its own way.

BlueKnickers @ 6/17/2026 10:17 PM
Roll the dice on the draft if you're staying under the cap and stock up with a bunch of rookies on the end of the bench. You might strike lightning and one of them may be ready to rock and roll in year 1. Happens to other teams.
martin @ 6/17/2026 10:22 PM
Panos @ 6/17/2026 10:56 PM
Is it worth bringing Precious back for the bench? He doesn't make much
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