How Tabling Extension Talks Could Impact Knicks Both Now and Later

The New York Knicks are showing that everybody has a price.

Former Kentucky Wildcat and current New York Knicks player Karl-Anthony Towns is introduced to the crowd during Big Blue Madness at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

After the New York Knicks won their first championship since 1973, the organization's main focus was keeping the team together while staying under the second apron—which felt contradictory.

The first chip to fall was Mitchell Robinson, who went to the Boston Celtics once it became evident the organization wasn't going to clear the threshold for him. With Robinson gone, the focus shifted to extension talks with Karl-Anthony Towns, Josh Hart, and also potentially Deuce McBride. Those talks have now all hit a snag.

According to the Knicks, the organization is tabling all extension discussions. The emphasis will be solely on the 2026/2027 season.

"As an organization, our entire focus is on preparing for the upcoming season and delivering another year for our fans to be proud of," the organization announced on Friday, according to SNY's Ian Begley. "As a result, we will not be negotiating contract extensions until later in the season and will remain solely focused on preparing for the start of the season."

This decision feels closely connected to key agenda items for New York that draw closer each day, and the potential impacts could be wide-ranging as a result of this pause.

What might be driving Knicks' move to halting contract extension talks

What is likely influencing this move is the fact the Knicks need to work on a Jalen Brunson extension for the summer of 2027, because he won't take the team-friendly deal he did a few years ago. Every signing that they make from here on out will be based on making sure that happens.

As a result, even though the Knicks may value Towns for what he did to help bring them their first championship in 53 years, they still have a limit on what they'll pay him. It's not just a Towns thing, though, because we saw an inkling of that with Robinson this offseason, and now the same is happening here.

Towns has also been open about him and the Knicks being far apart. According to Begley, they wanted to work on a $45 to $50 million deal, but the two sides can't come together.

"I want to do something to keep the team together and can work with the Knicks and also values me," Towns said, according to the New York Post's Stefan Bondy. "And none of those things are close to happening."

The potential to lose some key pieces in the future

Begley says this is a way for the Knicks to limit distractions during the season, but if there's a world where the team and Towns part, this could be the start of it.

Towns has a $61 million player option for next season, but can be a free agent after the year is up. Is there a world where the Knicks deal him if they don't think any extension will happen?

If not Towns, then maybe other extension-eligible candidates won't be in New York in the future. There's Hart, for example, who's eligible for a $132 million, four-year extension and only has a team option for 2027-28 left on his current pact.

New York Knicks guard Josh Hart (3) brings the ball up court against the Washington Wizards during the first quarter at Madison Square Garden. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The ones most likely to be dealt in the near-future, though, are McBride and Tyler Kolek, who are smaller fish compared to KAT and Hart. Both are important pieces, but they serve more ancillary roles. Dealing these younger players who are due for pay bumps would free up some potential resources.

Outside of Brunson, who is the center of the organization, the Knicks have made it clear. Everybody has a price, and if they can't figure out a way to make it work money-wise, they're willing to let them walk. They did that with Robinson, who went to a direct rival, and the Knicks didn't put up much of a fight on that front.

Now, with KAT, if they don't want to pay a 30-year-old center the max because they fear he'll break down on the back end of that deal, they might be willing to part ways. The big hope is that the Knicks can figure things out with both him and Hart and keep that starting five intact.

If this team has any shot at winning a championship again, that's probably the only way to do it. They caught lightning in a bottle in 2022 when they signed Brunson, and he emerged as a superstar; then they did a tremendous job building a championship core together. It would be a shame if it all fell apart because the team focused more on financial constraints than on winning now.

All of that starts with bringing back KAT. He would have to decline his player option if he took the extension now, and according to The Athletic's James L. Edwards, he isn't happy with that scenario.

The best thing for both sides could be KAT opting in and then taking an extension that works for both he and the team next year. In this instance, he isn't leaving money on the table, and they have their core together to make another run for the next few years.

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