Contract extension talks between Karl-Anthony Towns and the Knicks are paused. New York management hit that pause button, and while it surprised Towns and he doesn’t necessarily love it, he also wants to focus on the season and the Knicks’ quest to repeat.
However, one piece of drama remains before the season starts: The Oct. 19 deadline for Karl-Anthony Towns to pick up his $61 million player option for next season. Here is what that means:
• If he declines the option, Towns will be in the final year of his contract (making $57.1 million this season) and would become an unrestricted free agent next summer without an extension.
• If he picks up the option, he will be under contract for $61 million for the 2027-28 NBA season and cannot negotiate an extension with the Knicks until after the season.
Towns will likely decline the option, allowing him and his agents to continue negotiating with the Knicks this season once New York management decides to (quietly) reopen those talks. The risk there for the Knicks is that without an extension, Towns can walk out the door for nothing as a free agent next summer.
If he picks up the option and locks himself into the $61 million for next season, it almost unquestionably puts the Knicks into the second apron in a year, a line owner James Dolan said would be “suicidal” to cross, and it would force New York to consider trading him, either at the deadline or in the offseason.
Towns doesn’t want to leave New York, and it wants to keep him. As always, it’s a question of money, but in the NBA, money = respect, so more emotion is tied to it. Towns feels he’s earned that respect after two monster seasons with the Knicks and helping the team win its first title in 53 years.
Towns, 30, is eligible for a four-year, $276 million contract extension, coming off an All-Star season in which he averaged 20.1 points and 11.9 rebounds per game while being central to their title run. Towns has been clear: He will take a discount off the max to stay in New York. The Knicks reportedly have offered four years, $200 million, or an average of $50 million per season. Towns has said the sides are not close. A league source not tied to these negotiations suggested to NBC Sports there should be a compromise around $225-$230 million—basically, an average salary at around what Towns will make this season.
As long as Dolan refuses to enter the second apron, the Knicks are facing trouble, especially starting in the 2028-29 season. That’s when a new extension for Jalen Brunson could start — and don’t expect the same massive discount — as well as OG Anunoby. Josh Hart is in a similar situation to Towns and is extension-eligible right now, but those talks are on hold. Mikal Bridges is under contract for 28-29 at $38.9 million but also is extension eligible. Everyone will want to get paid after winning a title, it may not be that simple.
That’s all going to play out over the next couple of years, and be a talking point around a team trying to defend its title this season. As much as the Knicks management wants to avoid that.
They aren’t going to be able to avoid the rash of stories that will be written in the next week when Towns does — or more likely, does not — pick up his player option for next season.
