Knicks’ Second Apron Avoidance Shows Flawed Aspects Of NBA Salary Cap

Cap Casualties

In recent years, the Denver Nuggets have been among the league’s biggest spenders in an attempt to surround superstar Nikola Jokic with the best roster possible. Yet, that has had its limits and the team has still been forced to shed salaries – including emerging talent Peyton Watson this offseason (in what was effectively a salary dump to the Cleveland Cavaliers).

Similarly, the Minnesota Timberwolves sent Julius Randle to the Brooklyn Nets as part of a larger deal to add LaMelo Ball. But one of the biggest benefits of that deal was avoiding the second apron.

And the Oklahoma City Thunder, small-market as they may be, had to spend this offseason moving role players like Isaiah Joe, Lu Dort and Aaron Wiggins out to avoid cap issues.

Similarly, as mentioned above, the Knicks losing Robinson, their longest-tenured player, is absolutely a second apron casualty. But as the team balances its books going forward and potentially rewards the various players that helped deliver a title to New York, more may be coming.

The Knicks, like many of the seven (different) championship winners before them, have found themselves in a juggling act born of success. And early returns suggest they may come out on the losing end.

The Karl-Anthony Towns Kerfuffle

The Knicks’ salary issues are unique because their team construction arguably never should’ve happened to begin with.

Jalen Brunson’s now-famed discount deal that featured a $113 million haircut to facilitate the team’s spending around him, allowed the team to add key starters like Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges to begin with. Naturally, those players now want to be compensated for their contributions to a championship, and those negotiations have spilled out in the open as the team has played hardball while walking a tightrope between salary and title nostalgia.

After numerous reports that the Knicks and Towns were “far apart” on extension talks, the team issued a sternly worded statement that they’d be tabling any extension conversations for the time being. Towns expressed disappointment about that fact this weekend, and felt blindsided.

The move from New York contained some level of posturing. Towns, rightfully, is doing some posturing of his own as he tries to avoid coming off as a villain amid the Knicks’ public desire to bring him back at a lower number to keep this roster together.

Simmering below all of this is also Josh Hart’s impending extension as well. While not nearly as public as the Towns disagreement, he’s also in line for a deal and would conceivably both want to come back and make more than his current $20.9 million salary.

But between the two, it should be clear to fans that the second apron is functioning not only as a hard salary cap that gives owners the ability to low-ball players – or at the very least, give them leverage to tamp down compensation in the name of being competitive. It almost serves as a penalty for drafting and/or trading well, and winning with those players.

That sort of system drives parity, of course. But it also makes for short-lived runs of success for teams that would otherwise have stayed together for extended periods of time.

What’s Next For Knicks

There’s still a chance that the outward back-and-forth between Towns (who wants to stay in New York) and the Knicks becomes a footnote in a long and prosperous relationship. Towns and the team could figure something out, they could do the same with Hart. And then still give Brunson the max deal he deserves as NBA Finals MVP and a franchise legend.

But given Dolan’s hard stance on the second apron, despite his historic willingness to spend money, the chances of all of that coming together are starting to dwindle.

These are professionals, yes. So they could very well take the court later in October and be unaffected by the salary conversation as they work to defend their championship.

As time goes on without Towns signing on the dotted line, though, the chances of this team being broken up before they really get going increases.

That’s a problem no matter who wins. Yet it’s especially one for the NBA when the Knicks – one of its biggest and most valuable brands – is the one in the spotlight.

If teams see winning as a penalty, then fewer teams will spend the money on talent to try and compete for a title. And with the Knicks, breaking up a team like this because of apron fears harms both the franchise and the league’s well-being.

The second apron issue won’t be adjusted any time soon. But now that it’s become a frequent talking point for the league and its players (Bruce Brown had thoughts on the matter last week that helped spur an NBA statement in response), it will – rightfully – be in the Players’ Association crosshairs come the next collective bargaining session.