Can the Knicks afford to play hardball with Karl-Anthony Towns?

Ah, training camp. Finally back into the swing of things with basketball. It really is a lot more peaceful as defending champions, isn’t it?

Let’s see what’s going on as Media Day nea-

Ah, I guess we were overdue for something negative.

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Karl-Anthony Towns is eligible for a contract extension this offseason. It’s been assumed, especially after a championship, that Towns and the Knicks were going to be tied at the hip going forward, but the complicated mechanisms of the salary cap and second apron will of course serve as a boogeyman for roster building.

Now, what Shams has reported seems to be a bit dramatic based on what several Knicks reporters have said about the situation, but the consensus seems to be that the two sides are not nearing any sort of agreement as of yet.

As we know, Towns is eligible for a four-year, $276 million extension, but he will not receive that figure. It’s nothing personal, he could absolutely argue he’s worth it considering guys like De’Aaron Fox and Trae Young make north of $200 million, it’s just not practical for roster construction.

With James Dolan seemingly adamant about not exceeding the second apron, this negotiation will be walking a tightrope. The Knicks undoubtedly want to chop down the $61 million that Towns is currently due on a player option in 2026-27 because that figure would make things extremely awkward next offseason.

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By current projections, the Knicks have $221.3 million on the books in 2027-28 if we assume KAT opts into his player option, they pick up Josh Hart and Tyler Kolek’s team options, and decline Pacome Dadiet’s. That would put the team $12.5 million beneath the second apron with five mandatory roster spots to fill. There is a way to do that; it would just ensure that Deuce McBride walks, and the team can’t use anything other than a vet min.

Cutting that number to, say, $50 million (Ian Begley suggests that’s on the table) for a new extension would give them $23.5 million in space beneath the apron, giving the team significantly more flexibility. Anything lower? They’d feasibly be able to give McBride a market-value extension.

So you can…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/knicks-afford-play-hardball-karl-200000264.html

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Publish date : 2026-09-24 20:00:00

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