Knicks' Karl-Anthony Towns isn't happy with how contract extension talks are going
Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns speaks to media after Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Monday at Madison Square Garden. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams, Jr.
PHILADELPHIA — The first preseason game in the Knicks' hopes of repeating as NBA champions was still hours away when Karl-Anthony Towns came off the floor at the morning shootaround and made it clear that there is a game he doesn’t want to play: negotiating his value after winning the title.
Towns, who is eligible for a contract extension with a player option for the 2027-28 season allowing him the possibility of becoming an unrestricted free agent next summer, has openly expressed frustration with the process between the Knicks and his representatives.
With the team losing Mitchell Robinson over the desires of Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan to remain under the second apron of the salary cap, Towns has been wiling to take less than the four-year, $277 million extension he’s eligible for — and has earned — but remains far apart from what the Knicks are offering.
“Yeah, I mean, simply put, I want to do something that can keep the team together, and that can work with the Knicks and also values me,” Towns said in the corridors just off the court at Infinity Mobile Arena. “And, I mean, none of those things have come close to happening.”
While Towns has not put a deadline on the talks, when asked if he believed that an agreement could come before the start of the season, he said, “It don’t look good.”
He paused and asked the reporters, “I just won a championship, you thought it would be pretty easy. Unless you guys think I got anything else to prove.”
Towns has worked to fit in alongside Jalen Brunson since his arrival two years ago and became a key part of the Knicks postseason success last season — a role the team has already indicated will be utilized even more this season, putting the ball in his hands and orchestrating much of the offense through him.
Brunson set a tone for the franchise when he took the four-year, $156 million extension two years ago, allowing the team flexibility rather than waiting until the following summer when he could have landed a five-year, $269 million extension. OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges took slightly under the maximum with their new deals, but now it is Towns on the clock and the frustration has been evident.
Asked how he’s handling it, he said, “Best as anyone could.” But he added, “I mean, you just, in my experience, you just appreciate the moments right now, and just let it go where it goes.”
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
