Winning a championship after a 53-year drought erased decades of frustration for the New York Knicks fan base. The years and years of heartbreak and flat-out bad teams became more worthwhile after seeing the Knicks win it all.
While it’s still a joyous time, some of the euphoric feelings from fans are slowly dissipating. In large part, it’s because of the constant mentions of the second apron and players eligible for extensions who haven’t received them—particularly Karl-Anthony Towns.
Unfortunately, these extension talks and updates will likely continue for a while.
Second apron concerns won’t go away anytime soon
Soon after the Knicks won the title, owner James Dolan described going into the second apron as “suicidal.” New York stayed under it, and it cost them their longest-tenured player, Mitchell Robinson. Not just that, but Robinson is now on their hated rival, the Boston Celtics.
Now, the specter of the second apron is affecting contract negotiations. As long as the second apron is around, Dolan may not change his mind about wanting to stay under it.
Towns and the Knicks are reportedly far apart in extension talks. New York wants to make sure his next contract allows them to stay under the second apron, particularly if Brunson gets a maximum contract extension in 2027 for four years and around $290 million, according to The Athletic writer Fred Katz. Towns has a player option worth more than $61 million in 2027–28.
Since Towns will cost the most to get to agree, Josh Hart and Miles McBride likely won’t be able to negotiate much for their extensions. The Knicks will have a better idea of how much they can pay them after Towns’ (hopeful) extension is finalized.
Hart has a $22.4 million team option for 2027–28, and McBride will be an unrestricted free agent. McBride has been on one of the best-value contracts in the NBA, so it’s reasonable for him to want a fairly significant raise.
Towns believes his chances of agreeing to an extension before the regular season begins aren’t good. He also inferred that he wouldn’t expect this stalemate to happen after a championship.
That could mean talks involving three players who need new deals will linger throughout the regular season until something is done.
Nothing could ever make Knicks fans forget seeing their team win the 2026 NBA Finals. The excitement from that isn’t gone; it may have just subsided, a tad, because of the extensions that haven’t been finalized.
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