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How Karl-Anthony Towns Can Help Knicks With Next Contract
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- How Karl-Anthony Towns Can Help Knicks With Next Contract
After securing the majority of the players from last season's championship winning roster that were up for free agency, the next big task for the New York Knicks is to work on extending their current stars who are under contract, with players like Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns and Josh Hart taking the top priority and in both Brunson and Towns' cases, the top price points.
That can be an issue for the Knicks, whose owner James Dolan firmly declared at the start of this offseason that he wouldn't be going over the second apron no matter what, even if that meant sacrificing the loss of key role players.
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There's no telling if he would have that same approach when it comes to keeping the biggest stars on the roster around, but it's a possibility that can't be ignored, which would mean big trouble for the Knicks' ability to keep their franchise players as actually part of the franchise.
San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) controls the ball against New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) during the fourth quarter of game four of the 2026 NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden. Brad Penner-Imagn Images
KAT Taking A Discount
But there's another possibility as well. A recurring trend among this current roster of Knicks is their proclivity to taking team-friendly contracts. Both Landry Shamet and Jose Alvarado took team-friendly deals in free agency when they almost surely could have signed for more money elsewhere, so that there's a chance that trend could extend to star extensions as well.
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But Brunson has already taken a pay cut once before , it's what essentially enabled the Knicks to have the roster that won them a championship, and he's not likely to take another cut after leading the Knicks to NBA glory as the Finals MVP and likely the most beloved athlete in New York sports today.
New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) shoots over San Antonio Spurs guard Dylan Harper (2) in the first half during game five of the 2026 NBA Finals at Frost Bank Center. Scott Wachter-Imagn Images
That leaves Towns, whose contract extension has been a topic of discussion since the 2025 offseason. Towns is eligible for a supermax contract valued at roughy $220 million, which would both be a massive hit to the Knicks' budget and a fair value for their best player behind Brunson.
But Towns' future with the Knicks may not have to come at such a heavy process. Stefan Bondy of the New York Post recently proposed the idea of Towns signing for a four-year, $180 million extension instead, taking a pay cut that would actually eat into his current earnings as well, but would guarantee that Towns would stay in the Blue and Orange well into the late years of his career.
New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) celebrates after the Knicks defeat the San Antonio Spurs during game five of the 2026 NBA Finals at Frost Bank Center. Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
Would KAT Do It?
This would be a major ask, of course, but Towns clearly likes being a Knick and did even before a legacy-defining championship was part of the equation. His teammates appeared at his wedding and a major factor in the Knicks' success last season was due to the devotion that each player on the roster had for each other.
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The desire to maintain those relationships could outweigh the desire to maximize his millions an it could be the key to locking down Towns for the long-haul while leaving enough flexibility to lock his teammates down too.
