houston20 wrote:I’m not really worried about Mitch Robinson contract I think he lost money because broken hand and missing millions of free throws. I think shamet is going to get paid and find his replacement via the draft. I wouldn’t mind getting a center like tarris reed from UConn sooner or later we need Mitch Robinson replacement.

Not sure we can count on the wing we draft at 24 to replace Shamet, at least for next season. More realistic to think Diawara, assuming he comes back, or McCullar can replace him

TripleThreat wrote:

nycericanguy wrote:I guess I just dont understand what staying under the 2nd apron does for us that would justify losing Mitch & Shamet.

Knicks Sign Guerschon Yabusele To Two-Year Deal

July 1, 2025 - As we previously relayed, Yabusele is expected to take a little less than the full taxpayer mid-level exception in order to create some extra breathing room below the Knicks’ hard cap. According to Fred Katz of The Athletic (Twitter link), Yabusele’s deal will be worth $5.5MM in year one and $5.775MM in year two. July 1: The Knicks are in agreement on a two-year, $12MM deal with free agent forward/center Guerschon Yabusele, according to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link), who reports that the new contract will include a second-year player option. Based on their cap situation, the Knicks appear set to use their full taxpayer mid-level exception on Yabusele. That would work out to approximately $11.7MM over two seasons. However, he was a revelation on a minimum-salary contract with the Sixers in 2024/25, averaging 11.0 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 2.1 assists in 27.1 minutes per game, with a .501/.380/.725 shooting line. Yabusele has the size to match up with big men in the post and the athleticism to switch onto perimeter players, making him a valuable member of any frontcourt rotation. He’ll give the Knicks another option up front to supplement Karl-Anthony Towns and Mitchell Robinson, likely sliding into the spot previously held by Precious Achiuwa...Now that they’ve committed their taxpayer mid-level exception to Yabusele, the Knicks will be limited to minimum-salary signings (or trades) to fill out their roster.

https://www.hoopsrumors.com/2025/07/knicks-guerschon-yabusele-agree-to-two-year-deal.html

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Guerschon Yabusele has been major disappointment for Knicks

Jan 7, 2026 - To change that, the team signed Guerschon Yabusele to a two-year, $11.3 million deal in free agency. It was an addition that was lauded by virtually everyone, given how well he had performed with the Philadelphia 76ers in his return to the NBA last season. Yabusele averaged 11 points per game on a .501/.380/.725 shooting split with 5.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 0.8 steals in 27.1 minutes per game. He looked to be the perfect addition to the Knicks' bench, possessing a game that fit alongside both of their big men as a complementary piece. Alas, any goodwill and leash that the Frenchman had coming into the season has dissipated. His signing has not panned out, with Yabusele being one of the least impactful offseason additions in the league. He has not looked comfortable on the court in Brown’s system, producing a woeful .394/.317/.667 shooting line thus far this season. 3.1 points and 2.2 rebounds per game are being averaged in 9.6 minutes. Those offensive numbers are poor, but he has been performing at an even worse level on the defensive end of the court. As shared by Tommy Beer on X, Yabusele is one of only two players who have logged at least 300 minutes this season to record fewer than five steals and five blocks...His Net Rating of -3.3 is by far the worst amongst New York players who have appeared in at least 16 games and logged at least 300 minutes of action. There isn’t another rotation player on the team who has a negative Net Rating....Yabu is averaging 3.1 points per game while shooting below 40% from the floor and below 32% from downtown.

https://www.si.com/nba/knicks/onsi/news/new-york-knicks-guerschon-yabusele-signing-complete-disaster

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The New York Knicks traded Guerschon Yabusele to the Chicago Bulls in exchange for guard Dalen Terry. The trade was structured to allow the Knicks to dump Yabusele's player option for the following season and clear salary cap space, while Yabusele agreed to amend his contract to facilitate the move.

New York Knicks receive: Guard Dalen Terry

Chicago Bulls receive: Forward/Center Guerschon Yabusele and cash considerations

Yabusele struggled to fit into the Knicks' system after signing in the offseason, seeing a drastically reduced role. By moving him, the Knicks escaped a roughly $5.8 million player option for the 2026-27 season, which helped them duck the luxury tax/apron and open roster spots. Yabusele worked with his agency and the Knicks to voluntarily remove the player option from his contract to make the trade happen.The return: Dalen Terry, a former first-round pick, was on an expiring rookie deal. The Knicks subsequently used Terry in a separate deal to acquire defensive guard Jose Alvarado from the New Orleans Pelicans.

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The New York Knicks traded Dalen Terry and two second-round picks to the New Orleans Pelicans in exchange for point guard Jose Alvarado.

To New York Knicks: Jose Alvarado (and the draft rights to Latavious Williams).

To New Orleans Pelicans: Dalen Terry, two future second-round picks, and cash considerations.

The Knicks pursued this trade to bolster their backcourt rotation and add point-of-attack defense after guard Miles "Deuce" McBride suffered a core muscle injury requiring surgery. For the Pelicans, the move allowed them to clear minutes for younger developmental players as they embraced a retooling phase, rather than losing Alvarado to free agency. The trade served as a homecoming for Alvarado, a Brooklyn native. Terry was briefly routed to the Knicks from the Bulls in a separate trade before being immediately sent to New Orleans in the Alvarado deal.

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The gross assumption by many is that the roster you start with at the beginning of the season is where you will end up in terms of personnel by the end. It never works that way. Jose Alvarado was a useful piece for the championship run. People can argue how impactful, but he did give Brunson a breather at spots. And relief from being the primary ballhandler.

If the Knicks were over the 2nd Apron, odds are they would be stuck with a bust like Yabusele. Using the Taxpayer MLE on Yabusele looked good on paper, and everyone understands why the decision was made ( but it was also a sign of the lack of confidence in MRob and his availability too) Over the 2nd Apron, they would not have been able to add some of their annual Cash Allotment in with Dalen Terry to get Alvarado.

Let's say the Knicks get over the 2nd Apron and then MRob gets badly hurt again and/or Shamet just regresses and turns into a bust like Yabusele. Then what? No room to adjust. Very limited to almost zero ways to improve the roster even marginally.

Imagine this current season without Alvarado, that's what breaching the 2nd Apron would have done to this team. It's more than just Dolan spending money. You need some practical flexibility during the season to adjust to changes in your personnel. The 2nd Apron is treated functionally like a hard cap by many owners because it almost operates as a pure roster freeze at the beginning of a season.

Did you look it up yourself? If you did and didn't understand some of it, that happens. That's the point of forums, to share information. If you didn't look it up first though, then next time, look it up yourself.

None of this has to be complicated. The strategy that gives the Knicks the most options right now is mining the Unrestricted market for Veteran Minimum level players, guys with experience ( but also some tradeoffs and drawbacks) that offer a little bit of cost certainty. They aren't going to give you a future 3 seasons from now and they won't replace a starter on a 1/1 basis if someone gets hurt. But maybe they can give you 7-8 minutes a game of reliable production and steady play. In my mind, the Knicks are a very good team with it's core, they have a system that works and a core 5 that fit together well. Just supplement them a bit, that's it. No one wants to hear that MRob and Shamet are expendable, but at this point, they are probably expendable for the tradeoffs implied with keeping them. Again, if it was just Dolan's money, I'd say f**k the luxury tax costs, but it's not just a money issue here.

Making trades with contracts to match makes things EASIER not harder.

Making in season trades with a bunch of guys only making vet min is much more difficult.

Panos wrote:

BlueKnickers wrote:Just keep Diawara.

The kid's upside eclipses Mitch, Deuce and Shamet combined.

How are you so sure about this?

Because already does things veteran starters can't do

He can shoot, he can drive and finish, he's very court aware and can pass off the dribble (and well), with his length and his stride he covers lots of ground quickly (if he works on more explosion on his first step he'll be unstoppable).

He is already disruptive on defense and is a shot blocker and lane deflector. He's enthusiastic on defense, he seems to dig it.

His perimeter shooting went from non-existent to above average in half a year. When he was drafted he was not considered a shooter, I think his 3P% was in the mid to low twenties.

It has been said he picked up his shooting stroke with the Knicks shooting coaches in an insanely short period of time after they drafted him. This kid is a sponge, a learning machine with the athletic ability to translate lessons into results.

The coaches have said they show Mo something once and they don't have to explain it twice. IOW, his retention skills are probably off the hook which is the kind of leverage you want when you are already profiling to have all-star talent on perhaps both ends of the court. It means he may evolve into a starter level impact level player earlier than later.

The kid was a miracle pick at 51. He's a Top 10 pick talent-wise easily. The whole league whiffed on him

If he puts it all together, he would easily hold more value than the 3 players I mentioned combined and he could fulfill the roles of each one to some extent. He's a lithe swing man who can guard smaller or larger. His prototype is Siakam physically, but his level at 20-21 far exceeds where Siakam's pace of development was at that age

And lastly, Mo is fearless. He does not give a crap about the expectations for him when he entered the league. He's unafraid to shoot, to drive, to dime and he does them without hesitation and with deciveness. His mindset is he's going to be a legend. This stuff matters, because if the talent is there, then drive is what will make it happen. He plays like he already belongs and he is not waiting for a permission slip to dominate. Mo has that it factor.

nycericanguy wrote:Making trades with contracts to match makes things EASIER not harder.

Making in season trades with a bunch of guys only making vet min is much more difficult.

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The first image is from the 2024 season. The projected 2nd Apron for next season is about 223 million. The key points are the stacking penalties associated with breaching the respective Aprons.

Nothing you are saying makes any sense at all. Not a bit of it.

Rookie wrote:I don’t get how/when we get hard capped

2026–27 NBA salary cap and penalty thresholds (Current projections) :

Salary Cap: $165,000,000
Salary Floor: $149,000,000
Luxury Tax Threshold: $201,000,000
First Apron (Hard Cap limit): $209,000,000
Second Apron: $222,000,000

A team becomes hard-capped at the first tax apron if it makes any of the following moves:

Acquires a player via sign-and-trade.
Uses more than the taxpayer portion of the mid-level exception to sign a player.
Uses any portion of the mid-level exception to acquire a player via trade or waiver claim.
Uses any portion of the bi-annual exception to sign a player or to acquire a player via trade or waiver claim.
Uses the expanded traded player exception.
Uses a traded player exception generated during the previous offseason or regular season.
Signs a player who was waived during the regular season and whose pre-waiver salary was higher than the non-taxpayer mid-level exception.

A team becomes hard-capped at the second tax apron if it makes any of the following moves:

Uses any portion of the mid-level exception to sign a player to a contract.
Aggregates two or more players in a trade for salary-matching purposes.
Sends out cash in a trade.
Sends out a player via sign-and-trade and uses that player’s outgoing salary to take back a contract (either in the same transaction or in a subsequent transaction via the resulting trade exception).

Rookie wrote:I guess you could sign Mitch to a 1yr deal and go into the 2nd apron for one season. I’m not sure how that restricts us from adding to the roster. I believe we can sign our own FA’s and sign our draft picks? I don’t get how/when we get hard capped

Mitch is getting a big contract this offseason.

nycericanguy wrote:

TripleThreat wrote:

nycericanguy wrote:Making trades with contracts to match makes things EASIER not harder.

Making in season trades with a bunch of guys only making vet min is much more difficult.

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The first image is from the 2024 season. The projected 2nd Apron for next season is about 223 million. The key points are the stacking penalties associated with breaching the respective Aprons.

Nothing you are saying makes any sense at all. Not a bit of it.

Mitch on say a $15m salary can get you back a $15m player in trade, or Shamet at 8-10m. Even if it has to be a 1 for 1 trade.

but if you just have a bunch of vet mins, then trading for a guy even making $10m means trading 4 players... or limits you to vet min type player trades.

either way, the best option is to have Mitch and Shamet, we don't need any in season trades. we have depth now, unless we decide not to.

Teams exceeding the NBA's second apron are hit with severe roster-building penalties. They are prohibited from aggregating player contracts in trades, sending cash in trades, or using traded player exceptions (TPEs) from prior seasons. Additionally, these teams cannot trade first-round draft picks seven years out and face strict dollar-for-dollar salary matching constraints.The specific trade restrictions for NBA teams above the second apron include:No Contract Aggregation: Second-apron teams cannot combine multiple players' salaries into a single trade package to acquire a higher-paid player.Strict Salary Matching: Incoming salaries must match outgoing salaries exactly (dollar-for-dollar), and teams cannot take back more salary than they send out.No Pre-Existing Trade Exceptions: Teams cannot use traded player exceptions (TPEs) generated from prior seasons or created via sign-and-trades. They can only use TPEs created in deals during the current league year.No Cash in Trades: Franchises are prohibited from sending or receiving cash considerations to facilitate transactions.Frozen Future Draft Picks: Teams cannot trade their own first-round draft picks seven years into the future.Draft Pick Penalties: If a team finishes in the second apron for three out of any five seasons, their upcoming first-round draft pick is automatically moved to the very end of the first round.

Rookie wrote:

nycericanguy wrote:

TripleThreat wrote:

nycericanguy wrote:Making trades with contracts to match makes things EASIER not harder.

Making in season trades with a bunch of guys only making vet min is much more difficult.

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The first image is from the 2024 season. The projected 2nd Apron for next season is about 223 million. The key points are the stacking penalties associated with breaching the respective Aprons.

Nothing you are saying makes any sense at all. Not a bit of it.

Mitch on say a $15m salary can get you back a $15m player in trade, or Shamet at 8-10m. Even if it has to be a 1 for 1 trade.

but if you just have a bunch of vet mins, then trading for a guy even making $10m means trading 4 players... or limits you to vet min type player trades.

either way, the best option is to have Mitch and Shamet, we don't need any in season trades. we have depth now, unless we decide not to.

Teams exceeding the NBA's second apron are hit with severe roster-building penalties. They are prohibited from aggregating player contracts in trades, sending cash in trades, or using traded player exceptions (TPEs) from prior seasons. Additionally, these teams cannot trade first-round draft picks seven years out and face strict dollar-for-dollar salary matching constraints.The specific trade restrictions for NBA teams above the second apron include:No Contract Aggregation: Second-apron teams cannot combine multiple players' salaries into a single trade package to acquire a higher-paid player.Strict Salary Matching: Incoming salaries must match outgoing salaries exactly (dollar-for-dollar), and teams cannot take back more salary than they send out.No Pre-Existing Trade Exceptions: Teams cannot use traded player exceptions (TPEs) generated from prior seasons or created via sign-and-trades. They can only use TPEs created in deals during the current league year.No Cash in Trades: Franchises are prohibited from sending or receiving cash considerations to facilitate transactions.Frozen Future Draft Picks: Teams cannot trade their own first-round draft picks seven years into the future.Draft Pick Penalties: If a team finishes in the second apron for three out of any five seasons, their upcoming first-round draft pick is automatically moved to the very end of the first round.

all of that is true but losing Mitch and Shamet and salary to trade is worse than all of that IMO.

None of the above should be dealbreakers.