Any fans of the New York Knicks that weren't aware of the salary cap's second apron, and its consequences, were educated shortly after the team's first title in 53 years. Team governor James Dolan appeared on WFAN's The Carton Show to deem an extended stay over the second apron "suicidal" in the basketball world, making the organization's intentions clear.
The Knicks won't have any draft picks frozen or harsh limits placed on their ability to make trades, but they will watch center Mitchell Robinson don green uniforms throughout the course of the next three seasons. New York's refusal to surpass the second apron, in the wake of an NBA Championship, lost them their previously longest-tenured player.
While fans were reasonably frustrated with the loss of Robinson, the Oklahoma City Thunder's trade of Lu Dort on Sunday took the only remaining second apron team below the limit. As of now, zero NBA teams project to be in the second apron at the start of the 2026-27 season according to Third Apron's Yossi Gozlan.
Knicks are far from alone in avoidance of NBA's second apron
With Oklahoma City moving on from Dort, the Knicks have 29 other squads next to them underneath the second apron. It's unknown whether this is the result of a collaborative effort by team governors to force the NBA's hand with regard to the instituted penalties, but those penalties are technically still serving their intended purposes.
Thunder general manager Sam Presti told The Oklahoman's Justin Martinez on Sunday, in the wake of dealing Dort, that the trade was incentivized by money. He did not, however, attribute those concerns to the second apron.
"This was a financial decision. The impression I have been given is that the savings generated this summer, and from being out of the tax the last several years, will be re-allocated to future teams," Presti explained.
Whether the Thunder plan to eventually re-surpass the second apron, or not, is unknown. Regardless of what the reason is for their flurry of cost-cutting offseason moves, the moves all happened. Isaiah Joe is on the Detroit Pistons. And Dort is joining Aaron Wiggins on the Atlanta Hawks, on a team that also rosters Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's cousin and Cason Wallace's brother — Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Keaton Wallace.
Oklahoma City fans have an easy choice with regard to their secret-favorite Eastern Conference team next season. But NBA fans, at large, don't currently project to have a single team start the season over the second apron. The limits didn't stop the Cleveland Cavaliers from overhauling their rotation ahead of last year's trade deadline, but have clearly disincentivized governors from footing those bills in 2026.
Fans of the Knicks can certainly still be frustrated that their team, in the wake of its first NBA title in 53 years, refused to pay the prices associated with going over the second apron. The reality of the situation, though, is that 29 other teams made the same call. They just don't have a Larry O'Brien with the current year engraved on it.
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