Victor Wembanyama just changed the conversation for every star extension that comes next, and the Knicks may be one of the first teams to feel it.
After losing to the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals this year, Wembanyama signed a max deal with the San Antonio Spurs - but not the biggest one available to him. Rather than locking in at 30% of the cap after making an All-NBA Team, he agreed to a contract worth 25% of the cap, a move that gives San Antonio more flexibility. That decision may wind up echoing far beyond the Spurs, especially when New York gets serious about Karl-Anthony Towns.
Towns has a new contract decision looming over the next couple of years. He technically has two years left, but the second season is a player option, and he could turn that down if he wants to chase a bigger payday. The Knicks will likely want him to accept a slight pay cut so they can keep the roster together, and Wembanyama’s deal gives them a fresh talking point.
That doesn’t mean Towns will be eager to budge.
If he wants a max and refuses to move off that number, the Knicks could be in a tough spot. Towns is likely looking at what he’s done in New York, including helping deliver a title, and believing that he has earned either a max contract or something very close to it.
Wembanyama’s choice changes the backdrop for that debate. Once a player of his caliber takes less, the rest of the league gets asked to follow the example. Teams can now point to the Spurs star’s contract and ask, “Can’t you take a deal like that?”
The Knicks have seen something like this before. Jalen Brunson didn’t take a direct pay cut, but he signed a year earlier than he could have and left a lot of money on the table. That move helped New York keep its core together, and it ended up paying off in a major way, with that exact group winning the NBA Championship this year.
Still, that was then. Players outside of Brunson rarely give back money, and direct pay cuts are even less common when more cash is sitting right there on the table. Wembanyama did it anyway.
That’s why this matters for New York. If the market starts shifting because one of the league’s top-five players chose the Spurs over a bigger number, the Knicks will have a harder time justifying a massive Towns extension. And if Towns gets paid at that level, New York could eventually be forced to lose at least one of its other starters.
That’s the bind the Knicks may be walking into: a star who wants to be paid like a star, and a new league standard that may not make that ask so easy.
In Other News...
Knicks Have A Deuce McBride Decision That Could Loom Fast
The Knicks offseason business is not done, but one of the quieter questions on the roster has moved to the front burner. Deuce McBride established himself as a valuable rotation guard last season, averaging 12.0 points, 2.6 assists and 2.4 rebounds in 41 games, and his standing inside the organization has only grown as New York continues sorting out its future payroll and lineup decisions.
Stefan Bondy reported that the Knicks are unlikely to extend McBride, along with Karl-Anthony Towns and Josh Hart, before the season begins, which leaves McBride in a more fluid spot than a dependable bench piece usually prefers. New York is still weighing whether to treat him as part of the long-term core or keep him in play as a possible trade asset once the season gets rolling, a choice that could come into focus faster than expected. [Read more 🡒]
Former Knicks Champion Could Extend A Rare Streak In Philadelphia
Dillon Jones has a chance to keep an unusual run going after landing in Philadelphia, where his next stop comes with a roster built around LeBron James, Joel Embiid, Jaylen Brown and Tyrese Maxey. For a player who has already been part of title teams, the setup is at least intriguing enough to warrant a closer look from Knicks fans who remember his place on the clubs 2026 championship roster.
Jones arrives after back-to-back championships, first with Oklahoma City in 2025 and then with New York the following year, a rare kind of rsum for a player still looking to carve out his next opportunity. The question now is whether that momentum carries into Philly and whether his new situation can turn a brief stop into something that keeps the streak alive. [Read more 🡒]
Knicks Face A Roster Dilemma They Can't Solve With Sentiment
The Knicks have a clear opening at third-string center, and Taj Gibsons name naturally comes up because of how many times he has already been around the organization. He was traded to the New Orleans Pelicans and is now expected to be waived, which only adds to the sense that a familiar, low-drama answer could be sitting right there if New York wants it.
But this is also the kind of roster spot where sentiment can steer a team the wrong way. Gibson has been a dependable end-of-bench presence in past Knicks stints, yet the argument here is that New York should use those final openings on younger players or more upside rather than leaning on a known face for the sake of comfort. [Read more 🡒]