How the Knicks can complete the Mikal Bridges trade without being hard-capped at the first apron

The New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets have yet to complete the Mikal Bridges trade, and there’s only one reason why.

The Knicks sent four of their own first-round picks, the Milwaukee Bucks’ 2025 first-round pick, a 2028 first-round pick swap, the Nets’ own 2025 second-round pick, and Bojan Bogdanovic to Brooklyn as the package to land Bridges at Madison Square Garden.

If the trade were to be completed as is, however, the Knicks would be hard-capped at the $178.13 million first apron, meaning under no circumstances would they be allowed to have a payroll exceeding that number this season, the reason being they are taking back more money in Bridges’ $23.3 million salary than they are sending out in Bogdanovic’s $19 million salary.

That’s not an ideal scenario for a team that still needs to improve the roster but is projecting to come in $5 million below the first apron with the roster as is.

If the Knicks were to find a way to bridge that gap, however, between Bogdanovic and Bridges’ 2024-25 salaries — a roughly $4.2 million gap — they would instead be hard-capped at the $188.93 second apron, providing a bit more leeway to use salary cap exceptions to build out a roster deep and well-rounded enough to compete for a title.