Aside from Mitchell Robinson and Jeremy Sochan, the New York Knicks signed the vast majority of their free agents to new contracts this offseason. Jordan Clarkson, Jose Alvarado, Landry Shamet, and Mohamed Diawara all re-upped with the organization, locking in their places as part of the 2026 NBA title defense.
The 34-year-old Clarkson's deal is for one season at the veteran's minimum rate, like that of their new backup center in 32-year-old Andre Drummond. Alvarado (28), Shamet (29), and Diawara (21), however, agreed to multi-year deals to stick around in the Big Apple. On average, the three will combine to make just under $13 million in each of the next three seasons.
The Knicks have already been lauded for signing the trio of NBA Champions to team-friendly salaries — and deserved it. However, the real magic of those contracts is in the details and lack of guarantees in their final years. New York just contributed to the NBA's shift toward NFL-style contracts, with players being guaranteed less of their money.
Knicks' high-retention offseason leveraged their contender status
Out of all 30 NBA teams, there was only one that could market themselves as reigning champions. The Knicks kept the vast majority of their flight risks despite team governorship's mandate to stay under the second apron.
New York offered their players long-term contracts to stick around. Those deals, though, didn't necessarily have the same kind of stability NBA fans are used to. The league has certainly seen partial guarantees utilized as a leveraged team option, of sorts — but the talent has typically had the leverage. And the partial guarantee served as a severance payment where a denied team option would have provided nothing.
The shoe's on the other foot. Cap penalties, or teams' fear of them, are having their intended effects. The Denver Nuggets are currently the league's only second-apron spender looking ahead to the 2026-27 regular season.
New York gave Alvarado, Shamet, and Diawara the chance to earn their way onto the roster in each of the next several seasons. However, they also left themselves opportunities to sneak their way out of those deals at relatively low costs.
The two veterans have partial guarantees at the end of their deals, first reported by James L. Edwards III (Alvarado) and Keith Smith (Shamet). Diawara's deal, according to Fred Katz, is guaranteed only for its first two seasons. The hope for everyone involved is that the players, and their team, will see the entirety of those contracts out.
Things change quick in the NBA, though. And the Knicks have flexibility in case they ever want to be the ones to make that happen.
Long term, the NBA should get away from these contract structures
Players having less and less of their money guaranteed seems like an unfortunate consequence of the second apron, and its penalties, with governors holding firm on the scarcity of NBA jerseys swinging negotiations in their favor.
The NBA Players Association can't magically stop their members from taking contracts without guarantees. That kind of structure is essential to the league's two-way economy, which recently gained a third spot on every roster.
However, the NFL's contract structures should generally be a warning for basketball players — not a guide. Sure, it's intelligent for teams to exploit the market in whatever ways they (legally) can. However, decisions must sometimes be made for the general betterment of a league and its talent.
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