Knicks owner James Dolan said during a radio appearance on Wednesday that, while he wants to bring the team back for another run next season, he wants to avoid the second apron.

Fresh off the franchise’s first NBA title in 53 years, the Knicks’ focus has turned to the roster makeup for 2026-27. While Dolan made it clear that he’s fine with writing a check to account for entering the luxury tax, that isn’t the case for the second apron. “If we could bring back the whole team, exactly as it is, why wouldn’t you? But I don’t know if we’re going to be able to, contractually,” Dolan said. “We’re willing to stretch, right. There’s certain things in the NBA that you’d have to be suicidal to do. One of them is called the second apron. Cannot go into the second apron. That’s up to Leon (Rose)...I’ll write as big of a check as possible, but I can’t write a check that goes into the second apron.” This is important because two rotation players, Mitchell Robinson and Landry Shamet, are among the Knicks who will be unrestricted free agents at the end of the month. And Jose Alvarado, who was critical in Game 4 of the NBA Finals, has a $4.5 million player option. The Knicks barely avoided the second apron this season; this task becomes even more challenging this summer.