NEW YORK — The Knicks have built a championship-caliber roster. Now they need to add the finishing touches.

The Knicks kept the core fresh off the franchise’s first conference finals run in 25 years intact, then added much-needed bench depth by agreeing to deals with former Sixth Man of the Year Jordan Clarkson and French national team standout Guerschon Yabusele as free agency opened on Monday.

The salary-cap realities of the Knicks’ payroll leaves them with just enough space to add one more player — unless they create more room by moving a player for less salary in exchange.

Who should the Knicks consider for their final roster spot? A look at the market and what this roster might need to help it get over the hump in the pursuit of a title.

2025-26 Knicks roster at a glance

The Knicks will bring back their top-seven players from last year’s roster, plus a few on the outside of the rotation new head coach Mike Brown will have the opportunity to develop into impact players this season.

— Karl-Anthony Towns ($53.1M)

— OG Anunoby ($39.6M)

— Jalen Brunson ($34.9M)

— Mikal Bridges ($24.9M)

— Josh Hart ($19.5M)

— Mitchell Robinson ($13M)

— Guerschon Yabusele ($5.7M)

— Miles McBride ($4.3M)

— Jordan Clarkson ($2.3M)

— Pacome Dadiet ($2.8M)

— Tyler Kolek ($2.2M)

— Ariel Hukporti ($2M)

Payroll check

The Knicks have roughly $204.3M in player salaries for the 2025-26 NBA season, and after using the full taxpayer’s mid-level exception to sign Yabusele to a two-year, $12M deal, New York is hard-capped at the $207.8M second apron. The roster as constructed leaves the Knicks with just over $3.5M to sign free agents. The veteran’s minimum salary for a player with two or more years of NBA experience will count for $2.3M against the cap, and using such a minimum exception would leave the Knicks with just $1.24M of space beneath the hard cap.

Luckily for the Knicks, they’ve brought back last season’s core and have already improved on three glaring weaknesses: bench scoring, size and depth. Clarkson has scored more points off the bench than anyone in the last five years. Yabusele shoots the 3 at a 39% clip and is a 6-8 bruiser who plays both the four and the five.

The case to sign Damian Lillard

The Knicks were the healthiest team in all of basketball last season. Damian Lillard needs somewhere to rehab. It’s a match made in basketball heaven for a training staff that rehabbed Mitchell Robinson (ankle surgery), Landry Shamet (dislocated shoulder), Precious Achiuwa (hamstring injury) and Kevin McCullar Jr (knee surgery) back to playing condition by the end of the season. The Knicks could sign Lillard, who will continue to collect checks from the Milwaukee Bucks after they waived him from the roster and stretched the balance of his contract over five years, and help a Top-75 player return from a ruptured Achilles. Worst-case scenario: Lillard recovers, misses the entire season, then becomes an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2026. Best-case? Lillard returns to action after the mid-February All-Star break, and the Knicks pull off the heist of a century, picking up one of the best scoring guards in league history on an injury discount.

What do the Knicks actually need?

The NBA is a wing’s world. The rest of the league is living in it. The Knicks have two prototypical 3-and-D wings in Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby, but Josh Hart has served as more of a play-making four. Clarkson and Miles McBride are combo guards, and Yabusele spent most of his minutes for the 76ers at the center spot last season. The Knicks could benefit another player who can play minutes at the three. Brown could develop rising sophomore Pacome Dadiet into a serviceable rotation player — or the front office could use its final minimum slot to shore up the three.

— Names to consider: Cody Martin, Torrey Craig, Kessler Edwards, Kevin Knox, Justin Edwards, Kessler Edwards, Amir Coffey

The Knicks’ injury history at the five is also worth monitoring. Hukporti’s season virtually ended on a torn meniscus after the trade deadline. Robinson returned and stayed healthy after ankle surgery, but can he replicate that durability over a full season? And Karl-Anthony Towns limped off of the Gainbridge Fieldhouse following Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals after battling a season’s worth of nagging knee injuries. The Knicks could use their final minimum spot on a backup big man.

— Names to consider: Thomas Bryant, Charles Bassey, Jaxson Hayes, Micah Potter, Kai Jones

The Knicks can also consider re-signing one of their own free agents. Delon Wright, Shamet, Cameron Payne, McCullar Jr. and Achiuwa are all free agents after last season’s playoff run. Wright and Shamet emerged as valuable playoff contributors in the conference finals. Payne and Achiuwa may have seen their spots lost in the Clarkson and Yabusele additions. McCullar is an intriguing end-of-the-roster or two-way candidate who impressed in his only extended run in the season finale.

The Knicks also selected Mohamed Diawara with the 51st pick in the 2025 NBA draft and acquired the rights to James Nnaji, the 31st pick in the 2023 NBA draft, from the Minnesota Timberwolves as part of the Towns trade. Both could be candidates for a roster spot or a two-way deal.

Can Knicks sign more than 1 free agent?

Only if they clear some cap space in a salary dump. The Knicks could trade Tyler Kolek and his $2.2M salary to a team for a future second-round pick, which would increase their room beneath the second-apron hard cap to roughly $5.7M. This would give the Knicks enough room to sign two players to minimum contracts.

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