Kristian Winfield: The Knicks might be the second apron’s crown jewel
· Yahoo Sports
NEW YORK — Bruce Brown shouldn’t be here right now: in the Knicks’ locker room without a guaranteed contract, fielding questions about league-wide sentiment regarding the second apron.
But he is a casualty of the very collective bargaining agreement mechanism responsible for ripping championship rosters apart. And if James Dolan isn’t careful, his beloved New York Knicks will be next: the second apron’s crown jewel.
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Brown was an integral member of the 2023 Denver Nuggets’ championship roster. At 30 years old, he is still in his basketball prime. But he is not a star. He is a role player, and while the CBA tends to reward superstars and up-and-comers, Brown asserts the everyday role player fights for what’s left.
He inked a two-year, $45 million deal in Indiana after winning his title but has been on minimum contracts ever since. On Thursday, Brown aired grievances for the league’s middle class.
“The second apron … the new CBA is good for certain players: max guys, top free agents and maybe rookie free-agent guys. Other than that, the middle guys, it kinda sucks for us,” Brown said. “As you see, there’s not a lot of people getting that full mid-level anymore, or even the tax mid-level. So it’s tough, but that’s just the way it is right now. So each time you’re out there, you’ve got to play your best and hope for the best.”
The league has since pushed back: The number of players per team has remained the same, but annual salaries have increased by nearly $1.3 billion, “resulting in pay increases of approximately 30% for all classes of players,” the league announced as a response to Brown’s comments on Friday.
Tell that to the Knicks, who are facing pay cuts across the board after delivering the franchise its first title in 53 years.
Karl-Anthony Towns, Josh Hart and Miles McBride were integral members from last year’s championship roster. Towns was met with a reportedly “unreasonable” offer of $76 million below his $276 million max. Hart has a team option on the final year of his deal, so his extension talks are tied to those of Towns. And every dollar Towns demands comes out of the pie available to pay McBride, who expressed disappointment with extension talks exclusively to the Daily News in September.
“We cannot go into the second apron,” Dolan said this summer.
Look at who’s paying for it. This, of course, is a gamble.
The Knicks’ championship recipe featured heavy doses of chemistry, continuity and willingness to sacrifice for one another. Nothing wrecks all three like salary disputes: Jalen Brunson, OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges got paid. Towns, Hart and McBride are still waiting for the next check to clear.
The Knicks lost their first two preseason games, and quite frankly, they didn’t look any good for any long stretches. MSG’s public stance on extensions is a play to end the dialogue — and circus — around the dollars now.
The Knicks can come back to the table and agree to new deals at a later date, but only expiring contracts can be extended mid-season. That means Towns would need to decline his $61 million 2027-28 player option potentially before the Feb. 11 NBA trade deadline. This wouldn’t apply to McBride, who is in a true contract year, and Hart is on the other end: The Knicks own his $22 million team option for next season.
For the Knicks, holding out on contract extensions could backfire spectacularly. But so could over-investing in a core that may have reached its peak.
No NBA champion has repeated since the Golden State Warriors did it in 2017 and 2018. The Knicks couldn’t afford to keep Mitchell Robinson and stay under the second apron, so they let him walk to the Boston Celtics for what amounted to a measly 5.5% raise.
A four-year, $230 million extension for Towns — $10 million more than the total value of his current contract — would put the Knicks over the second apron for 2027-28 if McBride were to earn $14 million in Year 1 of a new deal. Multiple league sources told The New York Daily News they expect McBride to command a salary in the annual $15-20 million range should he sign a deal with a new team.
And next summer, Brunson and Anunoby will be up for new contract extensions themselves. They are getting a peek at what’s in store for them. Because if winning championship No. 1 didn’t guarantee Towns, of all people, got paid, then what is the point of competing for a title at all?
Maybe Bruce Brown’s cry for help isn’t only for the NBA’s middle class. Maybe the Knicks, championship and all, are the second apron’s crown jewel: the biggest team the new CBA has ever had in its sights.