Training camp is around the corner, and the New York Knicks are gearing up to defend the crown they waited 53 years for. But one piece of business from the summer hasn't been wrapped up just yet. Karl-Anthony Towns is entering the final guaranteed year of his deal, and the extension conversation everyone expected to move fast has instead slowed to a crawl.
Speaking on the New York Post's "NY Got Game," Stefan Bondy laid out where things actually stand between Towns and the front office. "It's not totally shocking. I knew for a while now that the Knicks were offering him less than the max, they were asking him to take a discount," Bondy said.
Bondy explained the Knicks are protecting their championship core, with James Dolan wary of the second apron, and both Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby due for extensions next summer. Giving Towns a four-year, $272 million deal doesn't fit that plan. "So they're asking him to take, from my understanding, a significant discount from the max," Bondy said.
How much he'll accept is still unclear, but reports suggest it isn't much. Bondy also pointed to Ian Begley of SNY, who reported the numbers being discussed land in the $45 million to $50 million average range, well short of the max Towns is eligible for. There's no deadline forcing this either way.
Towns can technically sign an extension anytime up until next June, so the wait continues, and it'll follow him straight into camp, where reporters won't let the question go. That patience cuts both ways, though. Towns has said publicly he wants to stay a Knick for life and floated taking less, echoing the discount Brunson gave the team back in 2024.
A signed number is the real test. The Knicks are counting on that loyalty holding. It worked with Brunson two years ago.
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