The Knicks are walking into training camp with a championship banner in the rearview mirror and a contract problem still sitting in front of them.
Karl-Anthony Towns summed up the reset in one line: “Is it cliché if I say it’s 0-0 again?”
That is the mood New York is trying to carry into the new season. Josh Hart put it even more bluntly: “We’re using it as fuel, we’re still the hunters, we’re not satisfied with one.”
But while the Knicks are trying to turn a championship summer into a clean start on the floor, Towns’ extension talks remain unresolved off it. The sides are reportedly tens of millions apart, and the gap has become one of the main storylines around a roster that is otherwise being treated like a finished product.
Towns is eligible for a contract extension for a second straight year, and the Knicks have discussed structures that begin in the $45 million-to-$50 million annual range. He is also eligible for a four-year, $276 million extension. Next summer, he has a player option worth $61 million.
That option is the number that hangs over everything. If Towns picks it up, the Knicks would be in the second apron, a complication the team has been trying to avoid as it plans for the seasons ahead. The Knicks are reportedly pushing for Towns to opt out and accept a lower annual salary in exchange for more guaranteed money over several years.
The talks have not gotten there yet. Reports have described the negotiations as stalled, and the two sides are far enough apart that the discussion could linger into the regular season and potentially beyond. If no deal is reached by October, the situation could stretch into a period when in-season extensions for All-Stars are uncommon.
That leaves New York in a familiar but uncomfortable place: trying to keep the focus on the present while the numbers point toward the future.
Towns has publicly expressed a desire to stay in New York, and the relationship between his agency, CAA, and the Knicks is viewed as one reason a deal remains possible. Both sides are expected to eventually agree on an extension, though the timing is still unsettled.
The timing matters because the Knicks’ roster picture does not stop with Towns. In 2028-29, a Jalen Brunson extension would kick in, along with a Josh Hart extension and likely an OG Anunoby extension. That is the next layer of the cap puzzle New York is already staring at, even before this season begins.
For now, the Knicks are trying to separate those long-range calculations from the work in front of them. Towns arrived at camp noticeably lighter, and the team is entering a season in which every player’s role is being reviewed again after a summer that brought more public attention than any in franchise history.
The challenge is obvious: keep the championship edge while the front office keeps negotiating.
Towns is set to earn $57 million this season, a reminder of how central he is to both the roster and the payroll. The Knicks have made clear they view him as part of their long-term plans. Towns has said he wants to remain in New York. The contract, though, is still unresolved.
So the Knicks begin camp with the same question that has followed them through the offseason: can they defend a championship while one of their biggest roster decisions is still open?