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Knicks Already Blew Past Every Spending Line

New York's bill is bigger than the roster that built a champion, and the picks to fix it are already spoken for.

$227.7MTotal payroll this season
By the Knicks Nightly Desk · Thursday, October 8

The books show $227.7 million in salary, above second apron money set at $221.7 million, and five contracts account for almost all of it. Three of the next four first-round picks already belong to Brooklyn, Detroit or Atlanta, leaving little margin to retool without paying twice.

$227.7M: Total payroll this season

The Bill

New York's payroll runs $227.7 million across 17 contracts. The cap is $165.0 million. The tax number is $200.4 million. The first apron is $209.0 million. Second apron money, where this roster now lives, is $221.7 million, and the Knicks have blown through every one of those lines.

The Big Five

Towns leads the books at $57.1 million. OG Anunoby is next at $42.5 million, then Brunson at $37.7 million, Bridges at $33.5 million and Hart at $20.9 million. Those five deals alone account for the bulk of the bill, and the rest of the roster splits what is left in two-million-dollar pieces.

What's Coming

Towns can opt in for $61.0 million in 2027-28, a raise, not a discount, while Anunoby, Brunson, Bridges and Hart all step up again that season. Tyler Kolek has a $2.5 million team option. Nothing on this roster gets cheaper before it gets more expensive.

Thin Draft Capital

The cupboard that could normally offset a bill like this is bare. New York's 2027 and 2029 first-round picks already belong to Brooklyn. The 2028 first is a swap, not an asset outright. Detroit holds a 2028 second, Atlanta a 2030 second, and another swap sits in 2029. Only the 2027 second and the 2030 first are New York's to keep outright.

Bottom Line

A champion built this bill, and the front office has no first-round relief until 2030 and no easy way under the apron lines without moving a rotation piece. Towns wants a new contract. McBride does too. Add those to a payroll already over every threshold, and the summer's extension talk looks harder to solve than it did in September.

Are the Knicks over the luxury tax?

Yes. New York's $227.7 million payroll clears the $200.4 million tax number and both aprons, landing above second-apron status, set at $221.7 million, for 2026-27.

What draft picks do the Knicks still control?

Not many outright. The 2027 and 2029 firsts are already owed to Brooklyn, the 2028 first is a swap, and the only picks New York fully controls are the 2027 second and the 2030 first.

By the Knicks Nightly Desk, written from the club's data and the reports on file, with every name and number checked against them. How the desks work.

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