newyorknewyork wrote:

martin wrote:Second apron for this year is $207m, next year it'll be $223M.

These are the current numbers

	
	Age	Player		2025-26		2026-27
-------------------------------------------------------------
1	30	KAT		53,142,264	57,078,728
2	28	OG Anunoby 	39,568,966	42,500,000
3	29	Jalen Brunson	34,944,001	37,739,521
4	29	Mikal Bridges	24,900,000	33,482,145
5	30	Josh Hart	19,472,240	21,030,019
6	27	Mitch Robinson	12,954,546	
7	27	Jose Alvarado	4,500,000	4,500,000
8	25	Miles McBride	4,333,333	3,956,523
9	20	Pacome Dadiet	2,847,600	2,983,680
10	24	Tyler Kolek 	2,191,897	2,296,271
11	28	Landry Shamet	2,296,274	
12	33	Jordan Clarkson	2,296,274	
13	23	Ariel Hukporti 	1,955,377	2,700,000
14	20	Mohamed Diawara	1,272,870	2,400,000
15	24	Kevin McCullar 			2,200,000
16	26	Trey Jemison		
17	24	Dillion Jones		
-------------------------------------------------------------				
		Team Totals	206,675,642	212,866,887
		CAP		154,647,000	166,000,000
		Luxury Tax	188,500,000	207,300,000
		Apron 1		195,947,000	210,330,000
		Apron 2		207,824,000	223,081,000

Clarkson & Dadiet will probably be allowed to walk & moved for cost savings. Deuce potentially could be traded as well. If MO solidifies himself, then that alleviates the need to draft a PF and transfers the need to G/F on rookie scale contract locked in for 3yrs as Shamet will also be hard to retain. Though they could lose Mitch and need to draft a defensive rim running C, but would allow to keep Deuce &/or Shamet.

Of course if they decide to move KAT then that obviously changes the landscape.

Clarkson isn't even a consideration, he's gone. but even moving Dadiet and Deuce for nothing only saves about $7m, we'd still be well over the 2nd apron.

martin wrote:How about this question: who is the last young player before Mo that got you this excited to see the development unfold?

IQ? RJ? Grimes? Deuce? KP? Ron Baker?

To be honest Alonzo Trier. I thought we found a diamond in the rough.

Iq Tj jp and grimes were supposed to be somewhat good and it took a while for deuce to be exciting

nycericanguy wrote:

Philc1 wrote:

nycericanguy wrote:

martin wrote:

KEEPCAMBYNY wrote:

BlueKnickers wrote:

martin wrote:

Tweet was deleted or there was problem with the URL:

https://www.twitter.com/KingBacca22x/status/2018845708120682589

It could happen. He's already doing all of those things.

My biggest concern is the cat is out of the bag and anyone can offer him a fat contract.

This is a big problem for us because someone will do it. He's clearly going to be worth a eye-popping deal for a sophomore.

The problem is complex because he is going to be a better player than all of the guys we're concerned with retaining, including Mitch, Deuce, Alvarado and you really cannot afford to let Diawara walk, because this is our Jokic moment where a late pick turns into a monster player.

The conundrum is cap space to sign Diawara may crowd out of the other guys, but if you pre-empt free agency and extend Diawara now you probably piss off the other guys in the process.

But the bottom line is one Diawara will be worth more than all of them put together. That's my projection for him. I think he's going to tear up the league sooner than later.

It's too late to hide him during the playoffs so we might as well use him to go deep. If he has a dominant playoffs and we haven't signed him yet it will create a budget crisis for the FO. But you gotta do what you gotta do. This guy is going to be better than OG, book it, so lock him down ASAP and if it pisses off the other players then so be it.

This is setting up to be another Jeremy Lin situation where another team comes in and offers a poison pill contract. I don’t understand the FO’s thinking on this. It’s the second time they’ve done this (Hartenstein being the first) where they fail to secure the bird rights of a player. Why not setup a 3 year deal with a team option on the 3rd year? Unless his agent demanded this, which is hard to believe since he barely even got drafted at pick 51. At this point I wish Thibs was still the coach, he would have at least had him glued to the bench so the rest of the league wouldn’t know how good he is, and we could keep him under wraps like we did Deuce.

The biggest loser in all of this is going to be KAT. We have too many guys that gotta get paid that his 60+ million a year might have to be moved either this summer or the next. We might also have to say goodbye to Mikal or OG at some point also.

Mo could only be given a 1 or 2 year exception deal.

The Knicks will most likely go over cap next year. Why are we worried about this? It is goink to happen.

These are not problems to worry about. This is a good thing.

This is exactly what you want: Mo being a rotational player and under RFA.

if a team offered him something like 2/10m could we match that?

Yes, Diawara is RFA. But this leads to a much bigger issue.

Knicks are absolutely going over second apron next season. They are right now committed to $205mil and the apron is $207 and the first figure only covers our core starter guys plus Deuce plus Alvarado who has a $4.5 mil player option he will likely pick up.

Mitch and Shamet both have to be resigned in addition to Diawara at a minimum. So you’re probably looking at our team payroll at $230 million next season.

Most of the second apron penalties are not a big deal but there’s 2 that are tough. No MLE and if you are over it 3 out of 5 years your first round pick in 7 years automatically goes to the end of round 1.

I would be surprised if this team wasn't prepared to go over the 2nd apron for at least 2 years until KAT's contract runs out. If this is our team and we aren't making major trades, then you have to go for it at full strength. Because we are already probably a tier below championship level. I mean we can win it all, we have a punchers chance, but we aren't in a position where we can lose guys like Mitch, Mo, Deuce...etc.. and still be a title contender.

This is our window to win a championship next 3 years. We have to go over the 2nd apron. One thing that might prevent it is Deuce and Josh’s contracts are both up after next season. Deuce will probably be traded for future picks February 2027 and that’s fine if Kolek keeps developing into a solid rotation guy. I know Hart is beloved but the reality is long term keeping guys like Mitch and KAT is more important and Diawara could be developing into an excellent wing player who could full time replace hart

Philc1 wrote:Knicks have to extend Mitch at some point. He gives us an edge especially against the elite teams in the playoffs with his rebounding and defense. A lot of what he does defensively does not show up in a box score he changes the opposing players shots both mid range and driving to the basket.

Another reason why I love Diawara so much is he actually also does the same thing with his insane wing span and athleticism

Josh contract has a team option after next year. If he starts to break down I can see team not offering it but perhaps if his role diminishes so might his salary demands?
I agree with your points and perhaps we have to go into the apron to succeed.
For any owner there need be a strong conviction to do so.

The funny part about all this multi year thinking is the reality will be far different. We never see many things as it comes. Diawa changes the dynmaic if he can be a starter. That means perhaps moving on from Mikal or OG in the future. As much as Dueuce is loose his does miss chunks of the season? He is now 25 and not quite the iron man. Not saying he breaks easy, but he has missed about 25% of the past few seasons and has only pled 35 this year. He might be hard pressed to get in 40.

We all love mitch but......Can he stay on the floor? I'd be curious if an incentive laden contract is available to him that is logical. Play the games and you get the big money. Break your foot you still get 10mm. Mitch is a great compliment to KAT.

Chandler wrote:

nycericanguy wrote:

Chandler wrote:

martin wrote:How about this question: who is the last young player before Mo that got you this excited to see the development unfold?

IQ? RJ? Grimes? Deuce? KP? Ron Baker?

To be honest Alonzo Trier. I thought we found a diamond in the rough.

Iq Tj jp and grimes were supposed to be somewhat good and it took a while for deuce to be exciting

hell no, hated his game. He was another CAM thomas. I will pat myself on the back and say I said he would be out of the league within 2 years when he was playing for us. I think it ended up being 1.5 seasons.

CAM will be out of the league soon too.

I think RJ was the last guy I was so excited about, and KP before then.

I was also a Frank believer though...lol

not disagreeing that he turned out to be a big negative. But when he first started with us he was hitting all kinds of shots at a good clip and we were desperate for talent

Trier had his moments his rookie season but so did Knox and we know how that turned out.

BlueKnickers wrote:

Nalod wrote:

Philc1 wrote:Knicks have to extend Mitch at some point. He gives us an edge especially against the elite teams in the playoffs with his rebounding and defense. A lot of what he does defensively does not show up in a box score he changes the opposing players shots both mid range and driving to the basket.

Another reason why I love Diawara so much is he actually also does the same thing with his insane wing span and athleticism

Josh contract has a team option after next year. If he starts to break down I can see team not offering it but perhaps if his role diminishes so might his salary demands?
I agree with your points and perhaps we have to go into the apron to succeed.
For any owner there need be a strong conviction to do so.

The funny part about all this multi year thinking is the reality will be far different. We never see many things as it comes. Diawa changes the dynmaic if he can be a starter. That means perhaps moving on from Mikal or OG in the future. As much as Dueuce is loose his does miss chunks of the season? He is now 25 and not quite the iron man. Not saying he breaks easy, but he has missed about 25% of the past few seasons and has only pled 35 this year. He might be hard pressed to get in 40.

We all love mitch but......Can he stay on the floor? I'd be curious if an incentive laden contract is available to him that is logical. Play the games and you get the big money. Break your foot you still get 10mm. Mitch is a great compliment to KAT.

That's the thing about a player like Diawara. He could enable the Knicks to shed salary and acquire picks or good role players by trading the guys Diawara could replace, like Bridges or OG. That is the nature of roster change in the NBA and to be expected when you uncover a diamond like Mo.

The way I bet it works with Josh is his team option will be picked up but he will be extended at a smaller number. Sort of a win for both sides. He’s here as long as Brunson is. Diawara is a major x-factor going forward. He needs to develop into a future starter based on what we are seeing now. Whether it’s a high level starter or not is the question. I can see a baseline skillset of someone like Camara or Herb Jones being the goal.

nycericanguy wrote:IDK how opposing teams don't watch MO and say lets throw 3/24m at him this summer and put the Knicks in a real tough spot.

because even at 8m per he's going to be a steal as soon as next season. He might even make OG expendable soon.

Agreed on price. Not on OG. That’s like saying I can’t have two Ferraris.

Bridges (7’0), OG (7’2), Diawara (7’4) is WingSpanStop with corner threes all day. That’s not expendable that’s a backbone. Same reason NOP won’t trade HerbJones. Collect em all.

nycericanguy wrote:IDK how opposing teams don't watch MO and say lets throw 3/24m at him this summer and put the Knicks in a real tough spot.

because even at 8m per he's going to be a steal as soon as next season. He might even make OG expendable soon.

How many late second round picks that have semi popped have you seen been offered that type of deal? Even from their own team?

It's too much of a risk and then you tie up your cap space cause he is a RFA.

Even Houston would say that Lin was probably overpriced at the time and faded. That's the risk.

At that price, you are pegging his talent as ~ #6-10 pick in this past draft.

martin wrote:

nycericanguy wrote:IDK how opposing teams don't watch MO and say lets throw 3/24m at him this summer and put the Knicks in a real tough spot.

because even at 8m per he's going to be a steal as soon as next season. He might even make OG expendable soon.

How many late second round picks that have semi popped have you seen been offered that type of deal? Even from their own team?

It's too much of a risk and then you tie up your cap space cause he is a RFA.

Even Houston would say that Lin was probably overpriced at the time and faded. That's the risk.

At that price, you are pegging his talent as ~ #6-10 pick in this past draft.

Exactly. Consider that Deuce is making $4.7M. I like Mo and the prospect of what he might become, but he has a long way to go to prove his worth. Also consider that other teams have their own Cap Issues to manage - why would they risk tying up $8M per year on a relative unknown commodity who will have perhaps 1/3 of a season of any type of impactful performance to go on.

martin wrote:

nycericanguy wrote:IDK how opposing teams don't watch MO and say lets throw 3/24m at him this summer and put the Knicks in a real tough spot.

because even at 8m per he's going to be a steal as soon as next season. He might even make OG expendable soon.

How many late second round picks that have semi popped have you seen been offered that type of deal? Even from their own team?

It's too much of a risk and then you tie up your cap space cause he is a RFA.

Even Houston would say that Lin was probably overpriced at the time and faded. That's the risk.

At that price, you are pegging his talent as ~ #6-10 pick in this past draft.

Draft picks are underpaid. Teams would offer alot more if they could to draft picks if they were FA's.

MO is the prototypical NBA player teams dream about these days. Long, versatile, defends, high IQ, can shoot the corner 3 and plays hard. If he pans out he's literally a MAX player. So $8m would be a very well calculated risk IMO.