Karl-Anthony Towns can sign a two-year extension worth almost $150 million this offseason that keeps him under contract through the 2029-30 campaign. If the New York Knicks are smart, they will not offer it to him.
Now, there are scenarios in which a Towns extension could make sense. Offering him the full boat isn’t one of them.
This extension would put him on the Knicks’ books for a total of five more years and $321.1 million. That is problematic if the front office wants to keep this core even remotely intact while navigating the NBA’s Era of Aprons.
More than that, New York needs to know whether he’s worth that much money—or any additional reinvestment at all.
The Knicks still don't know how valuable Karl-Anthony Towns is to them
By nearly any measure, Towns’ first season on the Knicks was a rousing success. He made an All-NBA team while averaging around 24 points, 13 rebounds and three assists per game, on almost 57 percent shooting inside the arc and over 42 percent shooting from three-point range.
Some metrics even paint KAT as the team’s most valuable player over Jalen Brunson. Across both the regular season and playoffs, New York outscored opponents by 9.44 points per 100 possessions when he played without JB. That is noticeably better than the plus-2.48 net rating the Knicks posted with both stars, and worlds better than the minus-0.05 they notched when Brunson was on the floor without Towns.
And yet, what’s technically a feather in KAT’s cap is also the Knicks’ biggest problem: Their two most important offensive players are struggling to co-exist.
Chemistry between Towns and Brunson deteriorated as the season wore on, culminating in the two leading separate existences by the time New York’s playoff push ended. The Knicks also never found a way to consistently defend with both stars. They hemorrhaged points during those stints, allowing opponents to shoot 55.6 percent on twos and 38.8 percent on threes.
Reinvesting in Towns doesn’t make sense so long as this dynamic remains shaky. Heck, it doesn’t make sense until the Knicks figure out whether KAT is a power forward or center.
Maybe it all comes together after naming Tom Thibodeau’s successor—though, it probably won’t, not without other personnel changes at least. For argument’s sake, though, let’s say everything is resolved. The Knicks can always revisit extension talks next year.
Extending Towns also ruins the Knicks’ trade flexibility
If the Knicks give Towns this two-year, $149.8 million deal, it significantly limits their offseason trade options.
The first year of his extension would pay him a hair over $72 million in 2028-29. First of all: Wow. Second of all, because that number represents more than a 5 percent raise over the preceding season’s salary ($61 million), he wouldn’t be trade-eligible for six months.
Towns can sign this deal beginning July 7. If the Knicks offer it, and he waits long enough to stamp it, they wouldn’t be able to shop until after the February 2026 trade deadline.
That’s not an issue if you refuse to entertain moving him. It is a huge dilemma if you’re among those who want New York to get in on the Kevin Durant sweepstakes, or pull off the Giannis Antetokounmpo pipe dream this offseason.
None of which is to say the Knicks will—or even should—jettison Towns. But they have an obligation to keep their options open. Extending him runs completely counter to prioritizing that flexibility.