News & Blogs
Relive the Knicks’ championship run by looking back at these key moments – New York Daily News
Knicks’ James Dolan on next season’s roster construction: ‘Cannot go into the second apron’ – SNY
Check Out Mitchell Robinson’s Epic Custom Truck for Knicks’ NBA Title Parade in Viral Video, Photo – BleacherReport
Know the draft prospect: Joshua Jefferson – Posting & Toasting
James Dolan reveals Knicks will not go into the second apron in 2026-27 – Posting & Toasting
Knicks ticker-tape parade: How to watch coverage on SNY and everything you need to know – SNY
Knicks’ Brunson, Hart throw out first pitches at Yankee Stadium – ESPN
Watch OG Anunoby React to Funny, Viral Photo and Video from GMA Interview – BleacherReport
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18 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2026.06.19)”
I think they’ve had conversations with Dolan about it and expressed that there are significant basketball reasons not to do it — and that’s why Dolan expectorated out his “opinion” that it was “suicidal,” which takes it further than Leon/Brock would have said.
But Dolan is motivated more by not cutting a check for the tax, which is why he moved on quickly from his poorly-understood “basketball” reasons and just got right to the real point.
Which leaves the question of how the topic came up in the first place; the most likely possibility is that Dolan told L/B, “we can’t go into the second apron,” and L/B then said something like, “No biggie, boss; it has a lot of basketball penalties anyway.”
Putting aside Dolan and L/B, the basketball penalties are in fact quite significant, much as they’ve been pooh-poohed in some segments of the Knicks’ shadow government around here. But YMMV on that one.
Serious question: what are the chances the mayor is/was a knickerblogger? I set the o/u at 5%.
They were digging quarters out from under the couch cushions last year to stay under the SA and we all thought that was for basketball reasons, but it now looks very much like it was to comply with the owner’s edict.
E, they literally weren’t allowed to go over the second apron last year because of the CBA. (I think it was because they used the TPMLE on Yabu, but it might be something else.)
This year, if they try to stay under it, it’s a deliberate choice. Which would suck.
E is so happy right now to finally have something negative to harp on.
There’s no difference between what Alan said and what I said.
I mean the bigger question is run it back and go over the second apron or do you let some of the bench guys go to try and bring in youth through the draft, take a step back but maybe go for it again the following year?
I’m not convinced we can’t win it all even if Mitch and Shamet go. Leon could pull off another mid season trade. Ring chasing vets might want to join us. Our young players could take a step forward.
The future is not written. The last two months should have taught us all that lesson.
Our starting five is the foundation and they are all in their prime and here the next few years.
Except Alan did say last year was for bball reasons and you’re saying it wasn’t.
Of course they can.
He has the causal arrow backwards. They didn’t stay under the SA to use the taxpayer exception; they took advantage of the taxpayer exception because it’s one of the benefits of being under the SA.
Without the owner edict, they might have chosen a different path than, “staying under the SA and using the taxpayer exception.”
I will not let the second apron speculation/owner musings affect the immaculate vibes around the team and the city right now.
Seriously, I’ve lived in NYC for 17 years now and there is only day when the vibes were remotely similar – Nov 7, 2020.
So sad to hear about GKHenman’s passing. He was always polite, and had optimistic takes about our future. I had great interactions with him, and will miss his comments.
If i remember correctly he was here right until the end of the regular season or close to it. So unfortunate.
I think you got to meet him before a game at the beginning of the season, wasn’t it Hubert?
He was too young for this to happen, only 62. His last facebook pic was in Belize, and as Hubert told us he intended to go spend his retirement there. He clearly had good days ahead, but that’s how life goes, you’ll never know. Please be kind to one another and cherish what you have.
About the Knicks, and although he didn’t get to watch us get to the promise land, i think by that time we all knew we were here to fight for it for some seasons, so i think the situation was good which is a lot better than we had the previous 2 decades counting 3 or 4 years from now.
Rest in peace, Gary.
Last year, staying under meant adding a $5.5M player with the TP-MLE without losing anyone.
This year, it means giving up a $15M player in Mitch and an $8-10M player in Shamet to sign a $6M player.
For music lovers, reminder that Bagel Radio has a live show on Fridays 9a-5p ET, which then replays at 8pm, and again Saturday morning. Link at the bottom, or just use your search engine of choice to find it. It’s also available on Tune-In so you can ask your favorite corporate listening speaker (Alexa, Siri, Google, etc.) to play it for you.
(The DJ is from Queens & is a Knicks fan, so this is relative. 🙂
Had to be a lurker. There is no way he could be a poster and we wouldn’t recognize his eloquence.
When Leon is first hired in 2020 by a team coming off a 21-win season, the overwhelming fan consensus is that he needs to commit to a full on tank & convert the existing roster into additional assets that could be used to rebuild the Knicks from the ground up.
Instead, he hires Tom Thiibodeau who sez “Fuck the tank,” goes to the whip hand early & often and doesn’t let up until he cudgels this team to 41 wins in a COVID shortened season.
Fans are furious, grouse about the uselessness of all those wins. The carping only grows louder when it becomes apparent the front office and head coach appear to be all in on winning as many games as possible, improvements being made incrementally by tinkering at the margins; the so-called “hybrid approach.”
This is largely perceived as something that Dolan wanted done. Like it or not, Leon, Thibs et al are simply carrying out orders from the boss.
Today, following five often inexplicable years featuring incinerated draft picks, paper clip trades and largely defying the conventional wisdom, the Knicks find themselves champions of the NBA.
The fanbase is exultant and the overwhelming consensus amongst us now is that the front office needs to do whatever it takes to keep intact a roster whose core players are nearing or over age 30, some of whom are heading for hefty pay raises.
The boss goes on a radio program before the first shred of confetti falls and publicly announces he does not want to break the bank to maintain the status quo. Fans are furious and call for the front office to save the owner from himself.
But if the last 6 years are instructive of anything, it’s that Leon & Co. are good soldiers who will carry out the boss’ mandate as faithfully – and competently – as possible. Meaning: the approach we see the front office take going forward could look very different; something more closely akin to what fans wanted him to do back when he was first hired.
It would not surprise me if we start to see movement towards a (very) gradual teardown in which Leon slowly begins exchanging costly assets for greater flexibility and – perhaps – relying more heavily on a draft which he has largely ignored til now.
Does he have the chops to successfully execute what would be a dramatic departure from his M.O. until now? Well, after witnessing how he successfully threaded the needle on the much more difficult to pull off hybrid approach, I suppose my attitude has gotta be “In Leon I trust.”
Maybe he’s DRed.
Dolan once paid a luxury tax bill that was 85% percent more than the salary cap for a 23 win team. Seems strange he wouldn’t pay for a good team. Maybe be, like me, has also grown cynical about this team? Dolan gets us!
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