Knicks must pay luxury tax toll if they want to keep team together

There comes a point on the trip when you have to pay the toll.

You can avoid it with back roads and creative mapping, but, eventually, you can’t cross the body of water without firing up the E-ZPass.

Or turning around.

That’s where the Knicks are right now.

For the four years under Leon Rose, the Knicks have never paid the luxury tax. Not once. You can imagine the jealousy around the NBA. The team in the biggest market — which is raking in a top-shelf annual revenue with the highest franchise valuation — has been collecting even more money from the luxury-tax pot.

In fact, the Knicks had the league’s lowest payroll in Rose’s first season (2020-21), according to Spotrac. They were 28th out of 30 in his second season. They were No. 20 in his third. Last season, they were up to only No. 18.

That’s crazy to think about given the history of the franchise, which, up until fairly recently, had a stretch of over 15 years with the league’s worst record AND the highest luxury-tax payments. ’Twas the double whammy of mismanagement.

Under Rose, who benefitted from a clean cap sheet and plenty of draft picks when he took over, the Knicks were cautious. They prioritized flexibility. They also won because you can’t tell Tom Thibodeau that losing is a part of rebuilding. The trip for the last four years was largely an enjoyable, low-risk breeze. Tremendous gas mileage.

But now they’re at the bridge. It’s time to pay up.

If the Knicks indeed ‘run it back’ — which I’ll define later — they’ll be in the luxury tax category and even threaten the second apron, which severely limits how teams can build their roster (second-apron teams lose access to the mid-level exception and can’t trade more than one player in any deal). The biggest money decision involves OG Anunoby, who is widely expected to reject his $19 million player option to become an unrestricted free agent.

This is why the Anunoby trade in December was such a high-risk maneuver. It wasn’t just swapping out RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley — it was a commitment to re-sign Anunoby at a number that probably only got higher after last season.

His three-plus months with the Knicks enhanced both the excitement and concerns around the 26-year-old.

His fit and impact on winning was tremendous, as evidenced by New York’s 26-6 record with Anunoby in the lineup. But he was also frequently injured — an issue that followed the 3-and-D forward from Toronto. Now there are reports and whispers of Anunoby testing the free-agent market, potentially leaving the Knicks for an enormous deal with the rival Sixers.

It’s hard to believe that is more than a negotiating ploy. The Knicks, operating from a disadvantaged position during these talks, only hold the leverage of the market price. Whatever another team offers, they’ll have to exceed it. They didn’t trade Barrett and Quickley for a half-year rental.

Over a decade ago, I covered another team, the New Jersey Nets, who were in a similar position. They had given up a haul to acquire Gerald Wallace from the Blazers, but also needed to re-sign him the following summer. Wallace used his leverage for a deal well above his value, and it became the final contract of Wallace’s NBA career. He took the money and retired to his lake in Alabama (yes, he built a 2 ½-acre lake called ‘Gerald Wallace Lake’).

Although a similar player with similar injury concerns, Wallace was three years older at the time than Anunoby is now. He’s the cautionary tale. More recently, the Mavericks traded for Kyrie Irving, overpaid to re-sign him, and it got them into the NBA Finals. That has worked out.

Regardless, the Knicks are past the point of putting much weight on the Anunoby financial implications. Losing him for nothing would be a disaster. I don’t think that will happen. So let’s say the Knicks run it back — meaning they re-sign Anunoby, re-sign Isaiah Hartenstein (he’s drawing interest that could drive up the price) and pick up Bojan Bogdanovic’s option — they’d be flirting with that stifling second apron. And that doesn’t even take into account potentially re-signing Precious Achiuwa. It’s partly why we’re hearing about trade rumors involving Mitchell Robinson and shedding his $27 million remaining salary.

The Knicks are at the toll.