SergioNYK wrote:Obviously we are not going to be able to bring everyone back. I won't be surprised if both Mitch and Shamet are gone. The 2nd apron sucks.
One methodology for MRob is trading him into another team's existing trade exception. If they have one large enough. Or empty cap space. Most teams aren't in that situation though, to have that much blank cap space open. And MRob can refuse to "sign" into a sign and trade if he doesn't like the destination.
However, it becomes an interesting though unlikely wrinkle to all this.
Hypothetically, if the Knicks trade MRob in a sign and trade into another teams large trade exception that can swallow the entire salary, and said team will not breach the first apron ( projected at 209 million for the upcoming season) after the deal, and that deal is at least a three year contract ( irrelevant if Year 3 is a team option or player option), and the Knicks don't take a single dollar back, nor a player ( with the implied salary), then the Knicks can stay in the First Apron and not be hard capped.
In effect, it would be be for a draft pick or draft picks.
For example, the Chicago Bulls are rumored to want MRob. Let's say they are willing to offer MRob something like 3/45. They still have the trade exception from the Huerter trade that is IIRC, around 26-27 million. ( EDIT - It looks like the single Huerter exception is about 18 million, not sure where I remembered 27 from, that's the price of getting old, but likely still enough to fit MRob's market range) That's enough to swallow MRob's contract whole. Let's say they offer two 2nd round picks. The Knicks get the picks, don't get hard capped, don't breach the First Apron on their end, but the trade exception for MRob on their end goes into limbo. Meaning as a team breaching the First Apron themselves, they cannot use the MRob trade exception immediately. However if they get under the First Apron later, while the trade exception is still active, the trade exception then "activates" again. As long as it happens before the trade exceptions expiration date. Right now, based on current cap holds, the Bulls couldn't do that deal, but the offseason has a ways to go and let's see what teams do to shed salary moving forward.
If I was in Brock Aller's shoes, that's what I'd be doing now. Looking at teams right now with single trade exceptions worth 15-20 million that are not in danger of expiring before this all needs to be settled with MRob's UFA status.
Why would a non Knicks team do this? For the full Bird Rights. An example of that was Durant in a sign and trade to the Nets for D'Angelo Russell. Getting Durant's full Bird Rights were critical to opening up space for Kyrie Irving to sign as a street free agent, but also carve enough room for DeAndre Jordan ( I'm not saying that carve out was smart, I'm just saying the math needed to add up) Durant could have just signed into the Net's empty cap space, but that would limit their flexibility with all their other moves.
Which is something I said to Briggs years ago. In the current marketplace environment, teams can get away with only one big signing that's a street free agent without full Bird Rights. More than that, it's very difficult to build a contending team in the modern era.
If other here want to keep arguing the MRob drum, some and not all, then they can. But I don't see it personally. MRob needs practical "load management" at this point. You are moving somewhere near Daniel Gafford market approximation with more recent Gafford level "availability". It means you still need to mine the UFA pool for bench big men anyway. The focus, IMHO, should not be on making MRob's life easier as a big who is fast entering his practical decline phase. The focus should be on keeping Brunson healthy and enough depth to give him a breather.
As for the 2nd Apron sucking, here's something to consider. Without the new CBA, and it's punitive system, KAT would not likely be a Knick. KAT was effectively a big contract dump. It just happened to be luck and fortune that the Knicks could jettison Randle ( i.e. addition by subtraction) and move a player ( DDV) that ended up hurt this year. And more fortune that non basketball circumstances unlocked a level of maturity and nuance in KAT that helped him play a more well rounded team oriented winning oriented style of basketball. The failures of the 2nd Apron and the trend lines toward it earlier still indirectly helped the Knicks.
6/19/2026 12:58 PM