Throw caution to the wind. The second apron is not as daunting as some claim. And if the New York Knicks remain below it, as owner James Dolan said they would, they will enter next season as a worse basketball team.The second apron, a payroll threshold that projects to be $222 million in 2026-27, might scare off most organizations, but until Dolan popped up on the radio earlier this month, New York was not supposed to be one of them. As the general spiel goes, the issue with crossing into such expensive territory, a marker that’s $21 million above the luxury tax, is not just the money; it’s the lost resources. Go beyond that $222 million figure, and a franchise kisses away the ability to make most types of trades and execute most kinds of free-agent signings.The Knicks’ front office knows this. And yet, it also understands that dipping below the second apron would lead to much of its depth flocking elsewhere, which is why, despite Dolan’s desires, it wants to go over the second apron, according to league sources, who were granted anonymity to speak freely. But so far, Dolan has not changed his mind.New York just won a title in large part because of its reserves, because Landry Shamet did not miss a 3-pointer for a month, because Jose Alvarado changed Game 4 of the NBA Finals, because Mitchell Robinson grabbed six offensive boards in the clincher, because Miles “Deuce” McBride went berserk to polish off the Philadelphia 76ers, and because Jordan Clarkson nailed a floater here or grabbed a rebound there.As Clarkson repeated whenever prompted with wonders of how this group reached such nirvana: “We’re good as f—-.” All the way down the roster.Top 5 moments from the Knicks' championship runStay under the second apron, and that changes, as The Athletic’s James Edwards wrote earlier this week. The Knicks lose many of those players without the ability to replace them. The smart basketball strategy is to retain the assets, to re-sign free agents Robinson and Shamet, especially. But Dolan disagrees with the experts.“We cannot go into the second apron,” he told WFAN on June 17.He continued: “We’re willing to stretch, but there’s certain things in the NBA that you’d have to be suicidal to do. One of them is the second apron.”In general, Dolan’s logic is correct. Last season, the Cleveland Cavaliers were the only team whose payroll ascended past the second apron. But the Knicks are no longer trying to reach the mountaintop. They’re already there.