When Jalen Brunson heroically took a $113 million pay cut to extend with the New York Knicks in 2024, he inadvertently shifted public perception and expectations around what it means to "take one for the team."
Karl-Anthony Towns is now experiencing this shift the hard way.
All summer, reports have been that New York and their extension-eligible All-Star have been rather far apart on his asking price.
Although it's been well documented that Towns is willing to take less money for the team's betterment, on Monday, the New York Post's Stefan Bondy revealed that the two parties are as far as $77 million apart on salary demands.
Now, while this discount is still significantly less than the one Brunson took, the fact of the matter is it's unfair for both fans and the front office to believe KAT needs to be willing to take a hit nearly close to as big with his new deal.
Karl-Anthony Towns shouldn't be pressured to take heavy Knicks pay cut
The six-time All-Star and recently minted NBA Champion is entering his age 31 season, which, generally speaking, is viewed as the last time most star players can cash in on a high-end max contract.
With all his credentials, Towns is eligible to sign a four-year, $276 million deal, though reports say the cash-strapped Knicks are currently offering only $200 million.
Though Brunson may have personally done it (at a younger age, mind you), it's completely ludicrous for anyone to try to pressure the big man to take a pay cut larger than what he's comfortable with, especially after the way he anchored New York's offense en route to their historic title run this past postseason.
As Bondy noted in his piece, Towns is willing to do what he can to "keep the team together and can work with the Knicks," so long as he simultaneously comes away feeling valued. Right now, in his eyes, "none of those things are close to happening,” and it's unreasonable to peg him as the reason why.
Yes, it's well understood that the Knicks are loooking to keep enough salary space open to go and extend guys like Josh Hart and, come next season, both OG Anunoby and Brunson, but Towns taking this kind of seismic hit with his own deal isn't the only way for them to re-up with them.
Instead, owner James Dolan should ease up on his desire to stay under the second apron and stop treating the threshold as a hard cap, which it's not.
Add us as a preferred source on Google