As we go deeper into the dog days of the offseason, the Knicks are a team with relatively few questions. After all, they just won the title (still feels great to say that) and returned almost all of their production from that title run, but there are still things to discuss as we patiently wait for more basketball on our screens.
High up on that list of things pertains to a potential contract extension for a player whose postseason buy-in was unlike anything we’ve seen before on both ends, who had a real case to win Finals MVP before the league mandate to both extend the series and prop up Wemby forced him into repeated foul trouble to end the series.
That’s, of course, Karl-Anthony Towns.
No player, not even Jalen Brunson or OG Anunoby, has experienced a better PR boost from this title than Towns. The median NBA fan would call Towns an overpaid, zesty (whatever that means), defensive liability to undermine just how dominant an offensive player he is, but his defensive buy-in and versatility as an offensive engine for a dominant playoff run changed hearts and minds. He’s now unanimously considered a top 15 player in the game.
But how should said player be paid? Handsomely, surely, but it’s more complicated than that.
It’s 2026, and although player empowerment is by far the social norm, there have been considerable efforts to curtail it, particularly with the current CBA and the introduction of the second apron.
It’s meant to give players a proposition. You can either make what you want or have a sustainable winner. If you get the max contract, you’ll be taking money away from your supporting cast, which will decrease your odds of winning a championship. If you take less money, you’d be getting paid less than some guys who clearly don’t deserve to be in your same tax bracket.
Brunson is a perfect example. He could’ve waited a year and signed a five-year, $269 million mega-extension in 2025, but elected to take four years and $156 million a year early for a myriad of reasons. If he wanted to make the most money, he likely wouldn’t have gotten a co-star in KAT, given the team’s aversion to the second apron. Role players like Jose Alvarado wouldn’t be here. Big moves would be made year after year to fit a few specific salaries, preventing the team from geling properly.
But while his extension has brought him the ultimate glory and likely earned him a massive future extension, it didn’t come without risk. Beyond the fact that there’s no guarantee he would’ve been given another big extension if he regressed in the ensuing four years, he was now making less than guys like Desmond Bane, LaMelo Ball, Michael Porter Jr., Darius Garland, Domantas Sabonis, Ja Morant, Zach LaVine, Paul George, and more. He’s the 47th highest-paid player in 2026-27, despite being a top-five player in the game. These guys can’t lace his boots.
Towns can do the same thing that his co-star did: take less money, but should he? Unlike Brunson, who was entering his age-28 season when he signed it, KAT is going to be 31 in November. The extension would start when he’s 32 and likely take him through age 36, when, barring LeBron-esque longevity, he’ll be diminished. This will be his last big paycheck.
The max he is eligible for this offseason is a huge sum of four years and $272 million. That’s $68 million a year. His current 2027-28 salary is a player option worth $61 million, so based on the contract escalators, he wouldn’t make too much more, but it would put him on the books for north of $70 million into his mid-30s. While the salary cap will continue to rise and make it less of an issue, that’s a lot of money for a player exiting his prime.
It’s also inhibitive of roster construction, particularly if James Dolan continues to drag his feet over even one season of the second apron. The Knicks currently have $226 million of salary on the books for 2027-28 with 10 players rostered, sitting just $7 million under the projected second apron. Any raise for Towns against his player option would be prohibitive and make it impossible to stay under the second apron without trades, particularly if the team has any desire to keep a guy like Deuce McBride.
The Knicks already won their championship, so the team should be in a state of enjoying the riches that they’ve earned, but it’s not 2018 anymore, when Joe Lacob was just able to spend infinite money on maintaining his superteam with no roster restrictions. Dolan has the money, which is what makes the decision even more bizarre, particularly when the repeater tax does not apply until next season. If there was any year to go into that second apron, it was this year, so I have my doubts he’ll do it next year.
The Knicks should extend KAT. He, like Brunson and Anunoby and maybe more, should go down as a Knicks legend and either retire here or be defined by their tenures here. If he merely plays out his contract, Towns will spend just three (or four) years as a Knick, a tenure that is dwarfed by his near-decade in Minnesota. The guy who’s the first star center to lift the Larry O’Brien in the orange and blue since Willis Reed should be remembered as a Knick, plain and simple.
That’s going to have to come with some sacrifice, though, and that sucks. We’re at an unprecedented point where a team is going to have to ask an All-NBA talent to take less money after winning a championship, and ask isn’t even a strong enough word. If he doesn’t take less, this core will likely begin to be disassembled next offseason.
So what’s the sweet spot? How much would both properly pay the Big Bodega for his contributions while also allowing this team and this core to get as many bites of the apple at a second championship as possible?
I thought about this for a good bit, and ultimately came out to a four-year pact worth about $230 million, shaving $42 million off the top of Towns’ max for an average annual value of $57.5 million. It might be a tough ask for a guy as valuable as KAT to take eight figures less per year, but let me show my work.
This would give Towns a Year 1 salary of approximately $50 million, which is $11 million less than his 2027-28 player option. While certainly a tough pill for him to swallow, it would make him anywhere from the 12th to 17th highest-paid player in basketball, depending on the exact dollar amount ($50.3m would put him 12th, for example). That’s fair money, even if the guys in his range aren’t worth it (Jamal Murray, Evan Mobley, Paul George).
The bigger emphasis here, though, is roster building. By saving $11 million, the Knicks would suddenly be $18 million beneath the second apron with five open roster spots in 2027-28, giving them more than enough money to stay beneath the threshold, albeit still with losing McBride. There’s at least a path to retaining McBride with some creative financing (and maybe a cheaper Hart extension) by declining Pacome Dadiet’s team option, which would put the team over $23 million beneath the apron.
As the extension progresses, Towns would make $54 million in 2028-29, $58.3 million in 2029-30, and $63 million in 2030-31, which would likely be a player option. Deducing financials from this point would depend on other moves, particularly with Shamet and Alvarado’s team-friendly, partially guaranteed extensions, but also whether McBride or Hart get a new contract.
I’d be surprised if he went into this season without an extension, mostly just because I expect nothing in-season and it’d be shocking to see him deal with those rumors all season with a player option looming. We’ve seen it happen with a bunch of other players, but KAT doesn’t strike me as that kind of guy.
Training camp will be fun.
