New York Knicks

Are the New York Knicks over the apron in 2026-27?

Season2026-272027-28 2028-29 2029-30 2030-31

No. The Knicks are under both aprons for 2026-27 (projected), with $2.2M of room before the first.

Apron payroll

$206.8M

First apron

$209.0M ($2.2M)

Second apron

$222.0M ($15.2M)

Their apron payroll (contracts, dead money, and unlikely incentives) is $206.8M, against a first apron of $209.0M and a second apron of $222.0M (projected).

Staying under the aprons preserves the full toolkit: the full mid-level, the bi-annual exception, and sign-and-trade flexibility. Several of those tools hard-cap a team at an apron once used, which is why the margins matter.

The rule behind this

The first apron is a spending line a few million above the luxury tax. Crossing it costs a team roster-building tools rather than just money: no acquiring players via sign-and-trade, no full mid-level exception (only the smaller taxpayer MLE), no bi-annual exception, no signing buyout players who earned more than the MLE, and trades must return salary within 110% of what goes out.

What is the first apron? →What is the second apron? →What is the hard cap? →

More Knicks questions

Do the New York Knicks have cap space in 2026-27?Are the New York Knicks in the luxury tax in 2026-27?Do the New York Knicks have the mid-level exception in 2026-27?Can the New York Knicks sign a max free agent in 2026-27?Who are the New York Knicks free agents in 2026-27?What draft picks do the New York Knicks have?

Numbers come straight from the live Knicks cap sheet, recomputed whenever the data updates.