Steve Popper: Knicks may find it difficult to retain key pieces in Mitchell Robinson, Landry Shamet and Jordan Clarkson
The Knicks' Mitchell Robinson during the team's championship ticker tape parade on June 18, 2026 in New York City. Credit: Getty Images/Michael Heiman
If there is one constant with the Knicks organization, before they won the NBA title and even now, it is they possess the most tight-lipped front office, taking pride in no leaks slipping out.
Even this week, when Leon Rose kept a promise and appeared on The Roommates Show hosted by Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart, the only reveal to come out of the nearly hourlong episode (other than Rose clarifying that he is not actually Brunson’s godfather) was Rose explaining why he doesn’t speak.
“To me, there’s no benefit in things being out there,” Rose said. “I’ve always just operated like that. Until you’ve got something you don’t have anything. You don’t want to affect the guys on the team either. There’s talk all the time, there’s behind the scenes talk about players and who you like, but it doesn’t mean anything unless you get something there.”
The Knicks front office has operated in ninja mode, already making moves to try to find every extra available dollar under the second apron of the salary cap. They dealt themselves out of their first-round pick Tuesday to avoid the $3.3 million salary slot Tuesday night, and then moving down again Wednesday before the second round even began, shifting from the 31st overall pick, pairing it with the 55th pick in exchange for the 39th and 53rd from Houston.
They finally made a selection at 39, taking Jack Kayil, who played professionally in Germany and could be kept overseas and off the books next season. With the 47th pick, obtained in deals a day earlier, the Knicks took 6-6 Tyler Nickel out of Vanderbilt, who shot 40% from three this season. At most, they would be second-round minimum type deals, adding little to the payroll while filling out the end of the roster and even taking back cash from the Lakers for Tuesday’s trade and more from Detroit for the 53rd pick.
The silence is understandable, particularly if you observe the damage control the Boston Celtics are trying to do right now while they may or may not be shopping Jaylen Brown, and even more so when you consider that Rose spent most of his career as an agent, having to ease the nerves of his clients who might be seeing their names in the rumor mill.
And that makes it all the stranger is that Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan so publicly stated the organization’s plans for the offseason, declaring in an interview on WFAN before the championship parade had even begun, that the Knicks would not allow the payroll to delve into the second apron. That almost certainly spoiled the chances of bringing back the main pieces of the roster for a run at defending their title.
“If we could bring back the whole team exactly as it is, why wouldn’t you?” Dolan said. “But I don’t know if we’re going to be able to. We’re willing to stretch, but there’s certain things in the NBA that you’d have to be suicidal to do and we’re not going to do those.
“One of them is the second apron. Cannot go into the second apron. But that’s up to Leon. I’m just telling him how big of a check I can write. I’ll write as big of a check as possible, but I can’t write a check that goes into the second apron.”
This is no small decision. Mitchell Robinson, Landry Shamet and Jordan Clarkson are all key pieces to what the Knicks did this season, bringing the franchise its first title in 53 years, and all are unrestricted free agents. And the math just doesn’t work right now to bring them all back and stay under the second apron.
The first question is why would he go public about this when the Knicks have masked their intentions so well for years? If the Knicks intend to stick to this plan then it basically sets the price for the Knicks free agents, meaning if a team intends on making an offer for Robinson, they would know just how far the Knicks could go to remain under the second apron.
But the deeper question is why are the Knicks so determined to remain under the second apron?
To do it once puts some restrictions on roster construction, but the Knicks already have put together a roster that is championship quality. And there are ways to maneuver around even getting the penalties for one year in the second apron by escaping it before the final day of the regular season. Brock Aller and his staff of cap experts are much better at finding the loopholes than me (or most of the NBA). Are the restrictions more damaging than ruining a chance at a repeat championship?
No matter how much the Knicks attempt to work around the margins they won’t have enough space below the second apron to sign Robinson and Shamet. In a weak free-agent market, Robinson figures to jump up from the $13 million he earned this season and can do it with a more prominent role than he has with the Knicks. Shamet has worked hard to earn a contract for the money and years he deserves.
The implications of the second apron, including paying more into the luxury tax, are a concern, but so too is the notion of losing important roster pieces without the room to replace them with equivalent talent.
The Knicks passed on the chance to add a first-round pick or even the first pick of the second round, which would tell you that the goal is to pay the veterans to run it back.
But that is up to Dolan now.
Notes & quotes: Kayil was asked if he planned to return to Germany and said, “Not really. My plans are to stay here and get into the organization and keep growing with them.”
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
