Extension talks between the New York Knicks and Karl-Anthony Towns have stalled, with both sides remaining tens of millions of dollars apart. ESPN insiders report that a deal before the season is unlikely as New York aims to avoid crossing the NBA’s second apron.
On September 23, ESPN’s Shams Charania revealed that talks between the New York Knicks and Karl-Anthony Towns on a potential extension have stalled with ESPN’s Brian Windhorst recently detailing the disagreement.
Position
C
Age
30
Height
213 cm
Weight
112 kg
Birth place
New Jersey, United States of America
On the Brian Windhorst and the Hoop Collective podcast, the NBA insider elaborated that there’s still time until the start of the season, but he doesn’t believe a deal will be reached.
“Shams brought to us that Karl Towns and the Knicks are very far apart in contract extension talks. You never say never. There’s many days until the start of the season. But I would say right now, looks unlikely. Unlikely that they’re gonna come to an agreement.”
Knicks and Towns highly disagree on contract value 
Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns
Credit Getty Images via AFP – Scanpix
Windhorst explained that Towns and the Knicks have very different views on the value of his next contract.
“And from what I understand, and wanna talk about the overall value of the contract because Karl Towns is eligible to sign a four-year $276,000,000 extension. That’s his max that he’s eligible to get,” Windhorst said.
“He and his side have a position on what he wants to sign for, the Knicks have a position in which they have offered. So that’s the parameters. From what I understand, they are tens of millions apart. They’re not close.”
Second apron complicates Knicks’ plans
One of the biggest factors in negotiations is New York’s desire to stay below the NBA’s second apron.
“But the big factor throughout all of this is that owner James Dolan has made it clear publicly that the team does not want to go into the second apron,” Charania noted on Wednesday. “The team will not go into the second apron moving forward.”
“This current team right now is not a second-apron team, so they’re out of that,” Charania continued. “But next season, if this same team comes back, they would be a second-apron team.”
That means at least some changes to the championship roster may eventually be required.
“Change is inevitable to some extent,” Charania said. “We’ve already seen Mitchell Robinson depart via free agency, and now a key All-NBA, All-Star-caliber player in Karl-Anthony Towns has no extension yet.”
“Josh Hart, another vital player on that historic championship team, has no extension yet either,” Charania added. “He is also eligible.”
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