Re-signing Landry Shamet has left the New York Knicks with almost no room for a second option at the 5.
The reigning NBA champions are trying to defend their title while staying under the league’s second apron — a line owner James Dolan has refused to cross. With free agency opening this week, Dolan’s promise is about to be tested.
Shamet’s new four-year, $24 million contract took the one slot New York had to pay a rotation player above the minimum. It leaves Mitchell Robinson, the club’s longest-serving player, looking like a luxury the Knicks can no longer afford.
How much the New York Knicks can spend on a backup center
The short answer: not much.
New York sits about $14 million below the second apron, but most of that is spoken for, with several roster spots still to fill.
Shamet’s deal used the slot available to pay a rotation player above the minimum — which means any backup signed now is looking at a minimum contract.
That points first to Ariel Hukporti. ESPN’s Vince Goodwill reported that New York will not extend a qualifying offer to the young center, making him an unrestricted free agent — which actually lets the Knicks re-sign him on a fresh minimum deal rather than the $2.6 million qualifying figure.
Hukporti on his own would leave the frontcourt thin behind Karl-Anthony Towns, so New York has looked at low-cost veterans to fill the gap.
Keeping Robinson is the harder path. To do it without crossing the apron, the Knicks would almost certainly have to shed salary in a trade — likely one involving Miles McBride and Pacôme Dadiet. Even then the savings might fall short, and a deal like that could just as easily bring back a different center anyway.
Rival teams can offer Robinson the full non-taxpayer mid-level exception, worth around $15.1 million, and both the Lakers and Nets are interested. Unless the Knicks find a trade, he is unlikely to be back next season.
Free agency is about to open. Robinson wants to stay and New York wants him back, but Dolan’s refusal to cross the apron has turned a simple reunion into a numbers problem — and how the Knicks solve it will shape the roster tasked with defending the title.
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