With every passing day, Karl-Anthony Towns seems to be reminding the New York Knicks that they messed up big time by not extending him this past offseason when they had the chance.
Considering the way he's been playing to start the 2026-27 NBA season, many are under the impression that the All-Star is only strengthening his leverage over Leon Rose and company in regard to salary demands once the two parties ultimately come back to the negotiation table.
Now, following Tuesday's dominant bout against Milwaukee, he's just one game away from adding historical context to his case.
With his 21-point, 16-rebound performance in New York's 117-85 blowout win, Towns is now a single double-double performance shy of matching the OG "Captain" himself, Willis Reed's franchise-record 11-straight to start a Knicks season.
After coming into this year's title defense campaign feeling disrespected as a result of falling short of a new extension with New York despite helping anchor the charge to snap their 53-year championship drought, Towns has responded with arguably the best all-around start of any season throughout his Hall of Fame-worthy 12-year career.
From boasting career-highs in rebound averages (13.8 per game) to a surprisingly elite production on the less glamorous side of the ball, as he currently ranks seventh in defensive rating (105.0) among starting centers who have played five or more games, KAT is amid a truly dominant run during these infancy stages of the year.
Heading into Wednesday night's matchup against the Cavaliers, he also has a chance to strengthen his already strong contract negotiation case by further highlighting his nearly historic level of on-court consistency.
Karl-Anthony Towns expected to easily surpass Knicks contract offer
This past offseason, Towns was eligible to sign a new contract extension worth up to $276 million.
The Knicks, with their self-set hard cap of the second apron, were reported to have offered him roughly $200 million over a four-year span.
Based on league-wide rumblings, KAT was and still is willing to take a discount with his next deal to remain with the organization long-term. Unfortunately for both him and the Knicks, the proposed offer was simply far too low.
Now, with the threat of a bidding war during next summer's free agency looming, the belief is that Towns will almost certainly field offers far superior to New York's reported last-ditch effort.
Unless the Knicks change their stance on exceeding the second apron threshold, some serious changes may unfortunately be on the horizon, be it in the form of letting their star big man walk or being forced to offload some other high-cost core rotation players to make the numbers work.
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