Tuesday, October 20th. The city streets are crowded for the holiday. Even with the ticket prices. Hidden in the chaos is the second apron, waiting to strike like a snake. And Leon Rose is there, too. Watching.
Okay, fine. This is an article about the New York Knicks, not the Gotham City Knights from Matt Reeves and Robert Pattinson'sThe Batman. The sentiment, however, stands still.
The window for Karl-Anthony Towns to trigger the $61 million player option in his contract for 2027-28 and sign an extension with the Knicks during the 2026-27 season is closed.
The flip from Monday to Tuesday brought on the Knicks' first game day since their Game 5 victory against the San Antonio Spurs. It was also the deadline for Towns to opt in and maintain eligibility for an in-season contract extension.
It takes two sides to negotiate a contract that seems all but guaranteed to be worth at least $200 million. The deadline passing, however, shifts all of the power into Towns' hands — at least for now.
The Knicks' October 9 announcement of the tabling of all contract extension negotiations concluded with a note that those talks would resume later in the season. Now, for that to be possible, Towns needs to decline his player option for 2028.
Towns has power given Knicks' hard-line refusal to surpass second apron
Four days after winning the 2026 NBA Championship, James Dolan made clear on WFAN that his Knicks would not be surpassing the salary cap's second apron. Towns opting into his $61 million player option for the 2028 campaign would make that additional tax bill hard to avoid.
The big man can still trigger that option once the 2026-27 season is over. To secure a long-term contract extension during the season, however, he would definitely need to give the one-year payday up.
Towns was unafraid to communicate his surprise at his lack of a new deal during training camp. Perhaps the chance to leave New York in a financial squeeze is the exact kind of leverage he wouldn't mind having in any upcoming negotiations.
It would behoove both parties — Towns and the Knicks — to continue their partnership. ESPN inadvertently reported that the center's ask is no more than $258 million over four years, but it remains unknown exactly how much distance there is to cover in the negotiations.
New York was clearly comfortable kicking the can down the road, regardless of how it would leave their stars feeling.
Add us as a preferred source on Google