By agreeing to a new contract with Landry Shamet, the New York Knicks no longer have a remotely plausible path to keeping Mitchell Robinson while remaining beneath the second apron. Their best chance at bringing back the team’s longest-tenured player now rests with convincing Josh Hart and Karl-Anthony Towns to accept large enough pay cuts for next year.
It is first and foremost unfair to put the onus on players to take less money when the team’s billionaire-blowhard owner can afford to pay them market value. But that’s the position James Dolan’s surprise mandate has put everyone in.
After signing Shamet to a four-year, $24 million deal—a bargain, by the way—the Knicks can’t offer Robinson a starting salary of even $5 million if they want to carry 15 players next season and avoid the second apron. That’s basically one-third of what Mitch earned this past year. He’s not taking that. They can increase flexibility slightly by dumping Pacome Dadiet, but it won’t be nearly enough to meet even the low end of Robinson’s market.
If New York is bent on keeping him, the front office will be better off shifting its focus to Hart and Towns, who are both eligible to sign extensions this offseason.
The Knicks’ sales pitch to James Dolan
Here’s the theoretical pitch to James Dolan: Towns (player) and Hart (team) both have options for the 2027-28 season. Those can be declined as part of any extension agreement, which would, in theory, allow the Knicks to lower their projected salaries.
If they take a big enough pay cut as part of longer-term agreements, the Knicks could avoid the second apron next season. In exchange, Dolan would let them enter it now to keep Robinson.
It’s an intriguing pitch. But it requires the cooperation of two key cogs in a championship machine.
Knowing both Jalen Brunson and Shamet have signed team-friendly deals, perhaps KAT and Hart are willing to do the same. Yet, their salaries still need to be within reason, otherwise this plan just gets insulting.
Karl-Anthony Towns would need to make the biggest sacrifice
Towns ($61 million) and Hart ($22.4 million) are currently on the books in 2027-28 for a combined $83.4 million. The Knicks as a whole have $221.3 million on the payroll committed to nine players for that season. This presumes they decline Dadiet’s team option, and does not include a new salary for Deuce McBride.
Relative to how the three-and-D small-guard market is panning out, let’s say Deuce takes a deal that brings the cap sheet to a clean $230 million for 10 players. Let us then throw in three veteran minimums at $2.6 million a pop. The Knicks are now at $237.8 million committed to 13 players.
That brings us to Robinson. Let’s pencil him in for around $15.2 million. If he gets less, then that’s awesome. But this lets us work with a flat $253 million payroll for 14 players.
The second-apron threshold for 2027-28 is projected to be $232.8 million. Our forecast puts the Knicks $21 million above that. That is the total amount New York must shave off salaries for KAT and Hart. And yeah, it’s a tall order.
If we pencil in Hart for $5 million less (so, $17 million), Towns’ 2027-28 salary must drop from $61 million to around $46 million. This still allows him to sign an extension that pays out more than $205 million over four years—well short of his max, but still quite a bit of change.
Whether this is realistic or a complete pipe dream remains to be seen. But rest assured, under the circumstances, it is the best and only way the Knicks can bring back Mitchell Robinson.
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