Taking a Closer Look at Knicks' Karl-Anthony Towns Extension Dilemma

Only three active centers have earned at least six All-Star appearances, at least three All-NBA selections and played a leading role in their team winning a championship.

For Nikola Jokič, a contract extension is merely a matter of taste and time. Anthony Davis may seem less likely to ever again receive max money, but Washington is always a decent bet to do the unthinkable.

Then there’s Karl-Anthony Towns, and the potentially tricky problem surrounding his next contract.

Solve for X: James Dolan and Leon Rose both want a championship team. That means spending at least X dollars. But Dolan doesn’t wanna spend X dollars. How can Rose thread the needle, assembling a legitimate, forceful title defense while creating flexibility for the future? Particularly with KAT now eligible for an extension?

Let's dive into how the team could handle this conundrum.

Breaking down the paths Knicks have with Karl-Anthony Towns extension

On the court, there’s no question the numbers say re-hire this man. Towns matched up with Joel Embiid, Jarrett Allen, Evan Mobley and Victor Wembanyama in the Knicks’ last three playoff series and took a backseat to none.

It’s possible there isn’t another center in the league right now who can give Wembanyama all the problems KAT can. The number of bigs who are dead-eye from deep is small. The number who can attack a close-out from 25 feet and finish at the rim without committing a charge? Smaller. The number who can do all that and facilitate the offense from out at the arc? Infinitesimal.

If all that matters are the numbers he’s put up, Towns would already have been extended. In two years with the Knicks he’s averaged better than 22 points and 12 rebounds a game, on 51/40/84 shooting splits.

His first season in New York saw the team advance further than they had in 25 years. His second saw them win their first title in 51 years. And while Jalen Brunson took home both the Eastern Conference Finals and NBA Finals MVP awards, if the NBA, like the NHL, had a Conn Smythe Trophy for most valuable player throughout the playoffs, KAT would have deserved it after averaging 19 points, nearly 13 boards, a block and a half and six assists a game on 55/46/91 splits.

But there are numbers, and then there are numbers, and some numbers could have the Knicks thinking twice about extending Towns.

For many years, one of the hallmarks of James Dolan’s ownership saw the Knicks investing heavily in seven-footers with medical red flags who crashed out in New York: Antonio McDyess; Eddy Curry; Kristaps Porziņģis. Even Amar’e Stoudemire, who heard “MVP” chants his first few months as a Knick, was only really STAT that first year, but signed a five-year deal.

Towns has played in 90% of the Knicks’ regular-season games his two years with the team. But he’s starting down the wrong side of 30, turning 31 in November. His two years as a Knick also include two long playoff runs. After an ironman first four years in Minnesota, Towns missed 33% of the Wolves’ games his final five seasons up north. It’s been a long, celebratory offseason. What are the odds KAT plays 90% of the schedule again?

Dolan has also been clear he doesn’t intend to spend into the second apron. With Miles McBride and Josh Hart also now eligible to sign extensions, and Brunson and OG Anunoby free to next year, New York’s front office isn’t being asked to keep a bunch of plates all spinning at once, but to start re-imagining the kitchen as a whole.

On the court, five fingers coming together to work as a fist is the ideal. But when it comes to contract decisions, the lack of an obvious pecking order complicates knowing who is irreplaceable and who is expendable.

The Knicks need Brunson; everybody knows that. They need OG. They need Hart. Bridges proved his importance. And they need Towns. Particularly after a postseason that not only gave Knicks fans their first taste of the top since 1973, but the first glimpse of what could be a dynastic offense.

In 2014-15, Golden State changed direction and started Draymond Green ahead of David Lee, unlocking their ultimate form en route to three titles in four years. Last year in the playoffs, New York switched from the Brunson-centric, Thibodeauean offense to one that ran through Towns as a high-post point center. The league had no answers. More to the point: the very best teams in the league, and its top defenses, having days if not weeks to prepare, had no answers.

But because the owners want the fans to think we hate dynasties, the Knicks won’t be able to keep their fist forever, and there are reasons to see Towns as the likeliest breaking point. After taking home $57 million this season, KAT has a $62 million player option for 2028. If he signs an extension now, he can receive as much as $208 million over three years; if he waits till next summer, he can get $272 million for four years. Either way, that's $68-$69 million per season.

Most analysts project Towns to agree to less money—$40-$45 million a year—to stay in New York, as Brunson did before signing his extension; Anunoby and Bridges, too. KAT is from the NYC area and has been embraced by the city and the fans. Around $40 million per would mean dropping to somewhere around the 30th-highest salary in the Association, though still top-five among centers.

But the question that lingered after New York’s cap concerns cost them Mitchell Robinson is even louder regarding Towns. If the Knicks won’t extend a superstar who’s given them literally everything they’d hoped for and more while playing a leading role in a title run that maxxed out in terms of magnitude and magical moments, for whom would they? Ever? If the 2026 Knicks weren't worth handling like the special gems they were, is anything of value ever safe at MSG?

If the franchise cares more about defending the 2027 title than who might be available to acquire in 2030, they’ll work out a deal with Towns. If not? They need only to look to their rivals in Boston to see what it looks like after a champion gets hollowed out from the inside.

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