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Knicks Top A New Value Chart, Can't Top Their Own Books

New York ranks among the league's most valuable franchises the same week it tabled talks with two of its own stars.

$227.7MPayroll, above the second apron
By the Knicks Nightly Desk · Saturday, October 10

A report from Kurt Badenhausen put the Knicks among the NBA's top 2026 franchise valuations, arriving days after New York announced it was pausing extension negotiations. Columnists at the New York Post used the same week to frame that pause as proof the second apron is already squeezing a champion.

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Illustration by Hoops Nightly.

Rich Team, Tight Books

Kurt Badenhausen's report puts the Knicks in the NBA's top tier of 2026 franchise valuations, right alongside the Warriors. Mike Vaccaro and Grace McCarron used the same week's news to needle the champs in the New York Post, writing up what tabling talks with Towns and Hart actually means for a team already past the luxury-tax line.

Camp Keeps Moving

New York gets four days off before hosting Minnesota on October 12. Toronto follows twice, October 13 and 15, before the real lights come on October 20 against Philadelphia.

The Number

$227.7 million. That is the payroll Leon Rose is carrying into a season that has not tipped off, already past the second apron, with the luxury-tax line parked at $200.4 million for comparison.

Open Question

Towns raised his extension at Media Day; so did Hart. Neither has new numbers now that the talks are paused, and Bruce Brown's non-guaranteed deal from the Nuggets trade is still sitting there as the easiest fix if the bill needs trimming. Someone gets paid here, or someone gets cut loose.

Bottom Line

The banner is up, the record is 0-0, and the balance sheet is the real test of this season. New York is worth more than almost anyone wants to admit and still has to decide who it can afford to keep paying for it.

Why are the Knicks pausing extension talks with Towns and Hart?

The team announced it is tabling all extension negotiations until after the season starts. No financial terms or timeline have been reported beyond that.

How far over the luxury-tax line are the Knicks?

New York's payroll is $227.7 million, above the second apron, with the luxury-tax line set at $200.4 million.

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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