Knicks Enter Late Summer With One Roster Spot Open and Center Depth Still Unsettled
New York rebuilt its bench around cap-friendly re-signings after losing Mitchell Robinson, but the defending champions' frontcourt search is still unresolved with training camp six weeks away.
By Jimmy Ng · August 3, 2026 · 2 min read
NEW YORK, Aug. 3, 2026 — The New York Knicks arrive at the quietest stretch of the NBA calendar with their championship core intact, 14 roster spots filled and one piece of business unfinished: the backup center rotation behind Karl-Anthony Towns.
New York won the 2026 NBA Finals in five games over the San Antonio Spurs, closing out a postseason run that included a six-game first-round series against Atlanta and sweeps of Philadelphia and Cleveland. It was the franchise's first title in 53 years.
The offseason that followed was shaped less by ambition than by arithmetic. Owner James Dolan set a mandate to stay below the second apron, and president of basketball operations Leon Rose built around it. On draft night, the Knicks traded out of the first round entirely, converting the No. 24 pick into five second-round selections and cash across a series of deals with the Lakers, Mavericks and Suns, then continued trading through the second round. They came away with German guard Jack Kayil at No. 39 and wing Tyler Nickel at No. 47.
In free agency, Rose prioritized continuity on the margins. Mohamed Diawara was re-signed on a multi-year deal, Jose Alvarado declined a $4.5 million player option to sign a three-year, $13 million contract, and Landry Shamet returned on a below-market deal after drawing outside interest.
The cost of apron discipline was Mitchell Robinson, who signed a three-year, $47.4 million contract with Boston after eight seasons in New York. Third-string center Ariel Hukporti also left, agreeing to a one-year, $3.4 million deal with Philadelphia. The Knicks replaced Robinson with Andre Drummond on a one-year minimum contract worth $3.88 million, carrying a $2.45 million cap hit.
That has not fully settled the position. New York signed restricted free agent Moussa Cisse to a two-year minimum offer sheet, which Dallas matched, and has been linked to New Orleans big men Yves Missi and Karlo Matkovic as well as Charlotte's Moussa Diabate. Nickel, the No. 47 pick, also remains unsigned; a rookie minimum deal would carry a $1.36 million cap hit.
The starting five — Jalen Brunson, Towns, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby and Josh Hart — returns intact under head coach Mike Brown, with extensions for Towns and Hart on the horizon.
Training camps open September 22 for teams playing overseas preseason games and September 29 for everyone else. The Knicks open the regular season on October 20 at Madison Square Garden against the 76ers, raising their 2025-26 championship banner before tip-off.