Right now, the New York Knicks are on top of the basketball world. Champions. Kings of New York. But heading into next year, they have to face off against the title hangover curse. No team has repeated as champions in eight years for a reason. And next year, Karl-Anthony Towns may be the guy to stay on the lookout for.
Towns is entering a contract year (even though he technically has a player option at the end of his deal). He’ll need to sign a new deal if he wants to stay with the Knicks past 2027-28, and with the second apron bearing down on the entire NBA, New York may be worried about overpaying him. So, he’ll need to prove his worth. Not only will the pressure of getting over the hump be gone, but Towns may want to prove that he’s worth a max deal.
The Knicks seem like the type of team to put those things aside. It’s what they did all last year, and it ended in a title. But the title has been won. And the hangover is a real thing.
Karl-Anthony Towns could force the issue more now that a title has been won
Last year, Towns was great. He gave the Knicks everything they needed from him, and then some. Without him, they may not have come close to winning the 2026 NBA Championship.
Jalen Brunson led the way, and OG Anunoby’s masterful playoff run will go down in NBA history. But Towns’ willingness to morph his play based on what Mike Brown needed from him was incredible.
Now, it’s time for him to get paid. Towns has a player option for the 2027-28 season, so there’s a chance he could just pick that up. But in all likelihood, he’ll want to put pen to paper before that comes into play.
A lot of the time, after a team wins a championship, players get a bit more selfish. The job is done. They can afford to focus on other things now. New York may avoid that issue, but it’s one all too common in today’s NBA.
Of all the people on the roster, Towns may have the most to gain or lose from this season. A great campaign could lead to yet another massive payday. A down year could lead to the Knicks trying to underpay him in order to stay below the second apron.
So, if Towns feels that pressure – even just a little bit – maybe he’ll try to get more touches for himself. More post-ups. More above-the-break threes. More counting stats.
The Knicks seem locked in. They seem determined to win no matter what. But we haven’t seen what the post-championship Knicks look like.
And if they look like a team that knows they got the job done already, then Towns could play the ‘let me earn my next contract’ game.
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