The New York Knicks made themselves the beneficiaries of a major mistake when they traded for Karl-Anthony Towns. The Minnesota Timberwolves had determined that they could recreate Towns’ impact in the aggregate, leading them to trade away their #1 overall pick from the 2015 NBA Draft.
The Timberwolves signed Towns to a contract extension themselves, with their physically gigantic core cleanly locked up until the implementation of the second apron complicated everything. They decided they could recreate Towns' impact in the aggregate, and are still searching for someone as impactful as the six-time All-Star. They even dumped Julius Randle's salary onto the Brooklyn Nets in hopes of changing their fate for next season.
Towns already got the best kind of payback by helping the Knicks win a title. The Randle deal helps, too. But if he really wanted to rub how much of a winner he was in Minnesota’s face, he could follow Jalen Brunson’s lead by taking a paycut on his next contract.
Towns can help Knicks keep Championship core around with big sacrifice
The Knicks’ championship extended the NBA’s streak without a repeat title-winner to eight years. The Golden State Warriors were the last squad to pull the feat off, with league measures to improve parity such as the second apron, seemingly succeeding at ensuring parity.
New York's core, though, is uniquely positioned with regard to their chances at repeating. All of their stars are 30 years old, or younger, with the exception of Josh Hart (who's only 31). And the emergence of another layer of Towns' offensive game in the first round series against the Atlanta Hawks showed that the center is capable of performing like a top-10 player in the league depending on the matchup.
Towns was integral to the Knicks' victory over Victor Wembanyama's Spurs on both ends of the court. He anchored the 2026 NBA Playoffs' best defense from the center spot, despite narratives surrounding the defensive abilities of both him and Captain Jalen Brunson. He made the Western Conference Finals in his final year with Minnesota, going on to make the Eastern Conference Finals in each of his first two seasons in New York.
His Knicks didn't win the first time around. They certainly won the second. And even though the Timberwolves also made it back to the WCF last season, it's clear that they were simply wrong about their ability to build a winner without him. Towns has an NBA Championship, and they're still looking to replace him.
And he can dump salt in those still-fresh wounds by extending with the Knicks on a $7-10 million paycut, over the course of the deal, that would help them keep their core around according to ESPN's Brian Windhorst. He certainly doesn't have to, and he'll have earned every dollar of his maximum extension if he insists on taking it.
The Knicks should certainly not hesitate to offer it.
But this Championship group was built on sacrifice. The Timberwolves aside, Towns following Brunson's lead could help lay the foundation for a repeat bid. That, presumably, would be worth the money the team is looking for Towns to surrender.
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