Some post-draft notes about the Knicks…
CAP CRUSHING
The Knicks’ roster salary is currently capped at $178.6 million for 2024-25. They currently have $173 million in salaries committed to 13 players for next year. (This assumes the first-round pick Pacome Dadiet and second round picks Tyler Kolek, Kevin McCullar Jr. It is Ariel Hukporti sign standard second-round contracts.)
Obviously, New York would like to have more than $5 million at its disposal to fill out the roster.
They are limited to $178.6 million due to Mikal Bridges replacement. The Knicks are currently sending more salary than they are receiving back. This triggers the hard-cap on the first apron.
They can remove the cap if they increase trade to send more wages than they receive. They are currently receiving $4.2 million more than they send out.
COVERED?
Immediately after the deal, the Knicks felt there would be viable ways to avoid the first hard cap hit.
They can do this by negotiating Miles McBride ($4.7 million salary for 2024-25) or sign-and-trade Alex Burks or Precious Achiuwaper Yossi Gozlan (which is a great resource for salary cap details).
If they can execute any of these trades and add it to the Bridges deal, the Knicks will avoid the first apron hard cap. They would then be limited on the second apron. Therefore, the team’s salary could not exceed US$182.7 million.
(Yes, they could also generate more money to spend in free agency by trading a veteran like Mitchell Robinson or Julio Randle. But the Knicks haven’t abandoned the Bridges trade with a plan to move Randle, according to people in touch with the team. I’m not here to predict the future and say definitively that the Knicks won’t trade Randle, but the Bridges trade hasn’t triggered a distinct plan to make that type of trade, according to people in touch with the team.)
AND HARTENSTEIN?
Let’s say the Knicks can up the Bridges trade and get past the first apron. They would then have enough money to re-sign Isaiah Hartenstein.
Entering the NBA Draft, Hartenstein was expected to be several teams’ top target at the start of free agency (Sunday, 6 p.m.). As we noted, this caused increasingly unlikely that the Knicks would be able to keep the big man.
Once again, they will be able to adjust the $16.1 million first-year maximum salary they can offer him under the second apron. If Hartenstein signs elsewhere, the Knicks can use the $5 million mid-level exception to sign a free agent center without going beyond the second apron.
