The Knicks don’t have to rush into a Karl-Anthony Towns extension before the season starts, and there’s a real case for letting that decision wait until next summer.
That doesn’t mean New York can play chicken with the situation. If the front office thinks Towns could be tempted by richer offers from other teams with money to burn, then Leon Rose and company need to move with urgency, just not recklessly. The key point is that this only works if everyone is aligned on the bigger goal.
And by the sound of it, this group is. That’s the kind of cooperation that leads to deals like the one for Landry Shamet, and it’s the same kind of unity that helped fuel one of the most dominant playoff runs of all time on the way to a championship.
If the Knicks and Towns are on the same page about keeping this thing together, waiting gives New York more room to work.
The biggest advantage is clarity. Right now, plenty of the financial picture is still fuzzy.
Towns is part of it, but so are Deuce McBride and Josh Hart. McBride is heading toward free agency, Hart has a 2027-28 team option, and both players are extension-eligible just like Towns.
Sure, the Knicks could try to lock up all three before opening night and call it peace of mind. But they’d be doing it without knowing exactly where the salary-cap landscape is headed.
That matters because the league has already changed its 2027-28 projection once, and it could shift again. The next adjustment might not be as friendly to New York.
Then again, it might help them even more. Either way, those margins get tight fast when you’re trying to stay below the apron.
Jalen Brunson is the other huge piece of the puzzle. New York still doesn’t know what his next contract will look like.
If he signs an extension after the upcoming season, it would begin in 2028-29. The projected max is four years and $286.5 million, but there’s also the possibility that he takes another discount.
By next summer, the Knicks should have a much better read on Brunson’s number, along with Hart’s and McBride’s. That’s why waiting on Towns can make sense. It gives New York the chance to shape his next deal in a way that keeps the core intact and still leaves a path around the second apron.
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OG Anunoby Gave The Knicks A Tough New Offensive Decision
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The question now is whether the Knicks should ask for more of that next season, or whether keeping his role in a more controlled range is the better way to preserve the efficiency that made the surge so valuable. It is a familiar kind of front-office and coaching dilemma: the production is obvious, the workload is real, and the next step could change the balance of the whole rotation. [Read more 🡒]
Knicks Roster Battle Could Favor A Familiar Face Josh Hart Trusts
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New York is still trying to sort out its depth at center, and that gives this competition a clearer shape than the usual September audition. Eubanks is one of the names trying to carve out a role, and with Hart already knowing what he brings, the camp battle could tilt in a direction that feels more comfortable than flashy. [Read more 🡒]
Karl-Anthony Towns Could Force Two Knicks Into Very Different Roles
Karl-Anthony Towns has already altered the Knicks offensive shape once this season, and the ripple effect could be felt again as the roster settles into its latest version. After a winter of big-name additions that also brought in Donte DiVincenzo, OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges, the Knicks kept finding new combinations around Towns, whose presence has given the team a different kind of scoring and spacing option than it had before.
What makes the situation worth watching now is how those changes can squeeze everyone else into new jobs, especially on a team that may still tweak the roster before the playoff deadline. Josh Harts role has long been tied to effort and versatility, but the more intriguing question is whether another young piece can carve out a bigger lane if the Knicks keep leaning into Towns as the center of the offense and let the on-court adjustments do most of the heavy lifting. [Read more 🡒]