{"id":697515,"date":"2026-04-04T09:40:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T09:40:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/697515\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T09:40:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T09:40:09","slug":"should-the-knicks-offer-karl-anthony-towns-a-260-million-extension","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/697515\/","title":{"rendered":"Should The Knicks Offer Karl-Anthony Towns A $260 Million Extension?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The New York Knicks<\/a> are in the middle of a championship window around 29-year-old guard Jalen Brunson<\/a>. The franchise needs to make careful roster decisions to push for a title, especially after an underwhelming 2025-26 regular season, where they have a 50-28 record so far this season. Karl-Anthony Towns<\/a> is Brunson\u2019s highest-value co-star this season, but the team might have an important decision to make regarding the 30-year-old center.<\/p>\n

The Knicks and Towns couldn\u2019t agree to an extension before October 2026, but they will be able to reconnect on talks after the 2026 NBA Finals, with Towns\u2019 max being worth four years and $260 million<\/a>. The center has made great sacrifices to his personal production to find his place in new coach Mike Brown\u2019s system, but he\u2019s had tiffs with his head coach<\/a> regarding his usage as well.<\/p>\n

Towns is making $53.1 million this season<\/a> and will be under contract for the 2026-27 season for $57.07 million. However, he has a $61.01 million player option for 2027-28, which might allow him to enter free agency if he doesn\u2019t think he has a future with the Knicks. He is from New York and has enjoyed playing at home, but if there are issues on-court and with his contract, Towns might need to explore his options.<\/p>\n

With the Knicks facing a $258.7 million salary bill next season with Towns, the franchise might want to get him on a cheaper deal to continue pushing for a title with this core. The question is whether Towns is worth the $260 million he\u2019ll likely expect in his next contract, and that\u2019s what we will explore here.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Karl-Anthony Towns\u2019 2025-26 Season Stats<\/p>\n

Towns is averaging 20.1 points, 11.9 rebounds, and 2.9 assists on 49.6% from the field on 13.8 attempts a game and 36.8% from three on 4.1 attempts per game. this season. The center has seen its minutes wane through stretches of the season, getting benched by coach Mike Brown in some fourth quarters to simplify New York\u2019s offensive approach. However, his value as one of the best rebounders in the NBA and best scoring bigs in the NBA is hard to replicate for a team with championship expectations.<\/p>\n

Towns\u2019 stats are lower compared to previous years because he\u2019s been willing to listen to coach Brown and abide by his play-style. As a result, Towns often seems disconnected from the larger Knicks offense and only finds scoring opportunities in the corner or if he creates them himself. He\u2019s too expensive to be a role-player and has been a star for his entire career, so the fact that he\u2019s found a way to adjust to such a style and still be productive is impressive.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, it doesn\u2019t seem like his numbers can command such a hefty contract extension. Even though the Knicks got their No. 1 option, Jalen Brunson, to take a pay cut<\/a>, the franchise might find it serves them better to distribute it across the rotation instead of committing such a huge chunk of change for Towns, who\u2019s not averaging the superstar numbers people with such contracts make.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Centers Like Towns Are Hard To Find<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a reason the Knicks front office went out and got Towns while he was signed to a veteran supermax contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves. They gave up core rotational players like Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo<\/a> to make this happen, which couldn\u2019t have been an easy decision. They made the plunge because they understand that having an offensive weapon like Towns will be a huge boost to their competitive hopes in the Playoffs.<\/p>\n

Towns is capable of floating from No. 1 option to No. 3 option depending on the situation. He can be an ever-present offensive threat while on the court due to his shooting ability, and he has great mobility for a player of his size. His defense has never been his strong suit, but he found a way to have his most productive season on that end in his first year with the Knicks, although he has slipped a little on that end this season.<\/p>\n

Unless the Knicks think the better solution is to find a workhorse center who\u2019ll just play his role but not have the high-level production of Towns, they really can\u2019t get a better center on the market. He creates a strong 1-2 punch with Mitchell Robinson off the bench, who is a role-playing center without any offensive flair. While Towns might get labelled soft by legends like Shaquille O\u2019Neal<\/a>, his offensive production is elite.<\/p>\n

The team knows they won\u2019t win it all with Robinson as their starter, which is why they acquired Towns, so unless they have a clear alternative to Towns, they might need to stick with him.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Price Of Continuity Against Experimentation<\/p>\n

The Knicks have two years of solid experience with their current core. Even though this season might have left an underwhelming taste in fans\u2019 mouths, it was the first year with a new head coach. If Towns\u2019 relationship with coach Brown can be improved, the team might be better off giving this core another season while they\u2019re all still in their prime. Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby have also had middling seasons, so another season of continuity might help all the players come back stronger next season.<\/p>\n

Unless there\u2019s an MVP-caliber player available, there really isn\u2019t an incentive to move on from Towns. He\u2019s already under contract for potentially two more seasons, but the team might get more out of their center if he knows his future is secured. This would even help him adjust to being a role-player because another contract should take him through to being 35 years old, after which another max contract is anyway unlikely.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Giannis Antetokounmpo Trade Rumors Casting A Shadow<\/p>\n

The Knicks have consistently been one of the most active teams in the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade race, with Towns being consistently named as the outgoing player from the Knicks to make the salaries work. The center has been frustrated with the front office over the rumors<\/a>, which swirled out of control before the start of this season. With Antetokounmpo\u2019s future with the Milwaukee Bucks looking all but done, a trade opportunity might still be there for New York.<\/p>\n

If the Knicks are considering an Antetokounmpo trade, they\u2019ll likely hold off on extending Towns this summer. That extension would also essentially make him untradeable for the next season, regardless of the price point.<\/p>\n

This creates a pretty big problem for Towns. The Knicks might not give him any extension this summer because it won\u2019t allow them to trade him if Antetokounmpo becomes available. This situation might incentivize him to take a pay cut to secure his future, but it\u2019ll be unlikely that the Knicks even put that on the table unless they know that they can\u2019t get Antetokounmpo.<\/p>\n

No other stars of that caliber seem to be available next summer, so an Antetokounmpo trade might have the biggest impact on Towns\u2019 future. What it likely guarantees is that Towns\u2019 extension talks could stretch deep into the summer until the Antetokounmpo trade saga has a conclusion.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Final Verdict<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t make sense for the Knicks to offer Towns an extension this summer, let alone one that could be worth $260 million over four years. His production has objectively proven he can\u2019t be paid like a No. 1 option anymore. He also likely won\u2019t get this money on another team either, so testing free agency two years from now might lead to an even worse result for Towns.<\/p>\n

His best bet is to hope Antetokounmpo gets traded elsewhere and re-sign on a deal more comparable to $150 million over four seasons, which would be around a $37.5 million average annual value. That would take Towns into his mid-thirties on a very good contract with his hometown team. The ball is in New York\u2019s court here, and Towns might be subject to their own timelines here.<\/p>\n

At least he can rely on making $110.1 million over this season and the next season, with an additional $61.01 million if he accepts his player option for 2027-28. Leaving these many years of guaranteed money behind for a huge discount isn\u2019t feasible either, so this might be a contract that is debated over for potentially the entirety of next season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The New York Knicks are in the middle of a championship window around 29-year-old guard Jalen Brunson. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":393907,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3768],"tags":[7,304,6,1136,191,3810,3806],"class_list":{"0":"post-697515","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-knicks","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-knicks","10":"tag-nba","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-new-york-knicks","13":"tag-newyork","14":"tag-newyorkknicks"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116345778575452087","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/697515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=697515"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/697515\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/393907"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=697515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=697515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=697515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}