The New York Knicks are one of only a handful of teams in the association this year to have a payroll that exceeds the league's $207.8 million, second-apron threshold. With this comes severe hardships in determining whom they can add to their talent pool and how they go about it.
Fortunately, despite the crippling restrictions that come with dipping into the second-apron, there are ways to navigate around them. Interestingly enough, the Knicks are already showing signs of being capable of doing so here in their first season dipping into the dreaded tax region.
Knicks have multiple, low-cost players showing signs of potential
With this new CBA in place and, in turn, the existence of the first and second aprons, hitting on second-round picks, undrafted free agents, and minimum-scale contracts is now more valuable than ever for an organization.
Frankly, considering their success rate in all three categories, a team like the OKC Thunder are believed to be perfectly capable of bypassing crushing tax penalties moving forward.
The Knicks are surprisingly showing early signs of possibly being able to do the same, as they have multiple prime examples of individuals who, at the moment, seem like hits for at least two of the aforementioned fronts.
Sunday night, fans saw the second-round selection component of this algorithm shine bright, as Ariel Hukporti, the 58 pick from the 2024 NBA Draft, played a key role in New York's hard-fought, 106-100 win over the Orlando Magic.
In just under 23 minutes of action, the big man registered six points, seven rebounds, and three blocks while earning Defensive Player of the Game honors along the way.
Just a few days before this impressive showing by the sophomore, undrafted rookie Dink Pate posted a truly historic triple-double down in the G League with the Westchester Knicks, dropping 37 points, 11 rebounds, and 13 assists against the College Park Skyhawks.
Now, granted, it's still far too early in both of these players' respective careers to determine whether or not they'll end up being quality role players for the Knicks down the road.
However, their enviably young ages (particularly Pate, who's still only 19), coupled with their recent flashes of brilliance, should, at the very least, have the franchise keeping a close eye on their progress moving forward, for unearthing hidden gems is truly going to be the primary way for the cash-strapped Knicks to make the most of their tax penalty-riddled salary cap.