On Friday, it was announced in a statement to ESPN's Shams Charania that the New York Knicks have decided to table all contract extension talks until later in the season.
To many, such as SNY's Ian Begley, this move is an attempt to "eliminate distractions" as the ball club looks to become the first repeat NBA Champion in nearly a decade.
However, ironically, this decision could very easily end up having the exact opposite effect.
Knicks tabling extension talks only bound to create more stressors
Key cogs in the club's title run like Karl-Anthony Towns and Josh Hart find themselves heading into their final, unimpeded years under contract before options need to be decided on, with no security for their futures beyond that.
Given that Towns has publicly said he feels that he has nothing more to prove following last postseason's performance, and how Hart has vocalized his disinterest in waiting to get a deal done, this announcement from the team is certainly not something that's going to ease their concerns or frustrations.
On top of this, no decisions being made regarding new contracts only makes the future of Miles McBride far more unpredictable.
The soon-to-be sixth-year veteran has already been heavily linked to trade rumors as a result of the club's rising salary cap coupled with his own contract desires.
A lack of answers now only creates the opportunity for even more questions and overall stressors to arise as we inch closer to the February trade deadline.
Lack of future security with Knicks already has trade rumors rumbling
Surprisingly, McBride isn't the only one of the three mentioned above who's seen as a name that could pop up on the trade market this coming season.
Even before the Knicks made their decision to halt extension talks, the trade rumor mill was already starting to rev up, and included in the recent discourse were the likes of Towns and Hart.
According to Shams Charania, both were considered potential trade candidates if they didn't ink new deals before the start of this year's campaign.
Now, though this may only be mere speculation at this point, the fact remains that their names are already being floated as expendable commodities for the Knicks.
Hearing such fodder after having just played significant roles in bringing home New York's first NBA Championship in 53 years is far from desirable.
All things considered, with the way the Knicks have handled extension talks, it seems they've invited even more distractions to come their way heading into their title defense tour.
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