On Wednesday, James Dolan said on WFAN's "The Carton Show" that he can't sign any contracts that send the New York Knicks into the second apron of the NBA's salary cap. The comment was surprising in the wake of the organization's 2026 NBA Championship victory, especially given the free agency of key cogs in their golden machine like Landry Shamet and Mitchell Robinson.
The Knicks' governor made it clear that going past the league's second apron is "suicidal," explaining he'll pay any amount so long as his team avoids the penalties attached to that upper limit. But, if it came down to it, would Dolan truly refuse to surpass the second apron despite the recommendation of leading strategists in Leon Rose and William Wesley's front office?
While the 29 other teams in the league should be hoping that Dolan was transparently telling the truth, any good rival front office will be leaving the door open for the possibility that the governor was just looking to scare potential bidders for players like Mitchell Robinson and Landry Shamet off. And maybe take a shot at the CBA while he was at it.
Dolan has always footed the bill in 2020's: will he really stop after title?
The governor has consistently funded top-of-the-line front offices and coaching staffs throughout Leon Rose and William Wesley's tenures. Although the words came directly from his mouth, it feels doubtful that he'd be unwilling to pay the implicit costs of winning after defining ecstasy while hoisting the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy to over 20 million viewers.
Effectively daring rival teams to send his free agents their best bids might not have been the bleeding of cards that it sounded like on air, either.
After all, fans likely want nothing more but to see every single member of their Championship-winning New York Knicks back on the roster for next season. Dolan's comments on WFAN's airwaves, though, laid the foundation for some heartbreaking changes this offseason.
"If we could bring back the whole team, exactly as it is, why wouldn't you? But I don't know if we're going to be able to, contractually. We're willing to stretch, right. There's certain things in the NBA that you'd have to be suicidal to do. One of them is called the second apron. Cannot go into the second apron. That's up to Leon...I'll write as big of a check as possible, but I can't write a check that goes into the second apron," Dolan told hosts Craig Carton and Chris McMonigle.
Door must be left open for Dolan's second apron comments as leverage
The governor has every right to be frustrated with some of the results of the collective bargaining agreement, such as the team's 2024 offseason loss of starting center Isaiah Hartenstein to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Dolan, who foots gigantic bills as part of the NBA's revenue-sharing program, likely finds it silly that he was unable to pay his actual talent his market rate.
The Knicks were willing to give Hartenstein an annual raise that would have more-than-doubled his previous two-year contract with the squad, something this scribe has reported before and that the center himself has confirmed. But that still didn't close to Oklahoma City's rich offer of almost $30 million per season, one the big man simply had to accept.
When it comes to just how far the Knicks are willing to go to bring back the ring-bearing members of their 2026 squad, Dolan would know best. But despite his comments on Wednesday, it's still too early to write the book on New York's summer.
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