Karl-Anthony Towns no longer seems like a lock to sign an extension before the regular season. Unless that changes, the New York Knicks need to scour the trade market for another center who meets a very specific criteria: being better than Andre Drummond, and under contract beyond the 2026-27 campaign.
This isn’t about preparing for a Towns trade if he doesn’t put pen to paper on an extension. Neither Ian Begley of SNY nor Shams Charania of ESPN paint the negotiations between New York and its big man as hopeless. And though the Knicks’ front office tends to ship out core players when they don’t reach an agreement before free agency, they have no choice but to make an exception for Towns.
New York, in fact, just made an exception for Mitchell Robinson. It held onto him past the trade deadline rather than moving him to maximize its title chances. The Knicks will do the same with Towns, if it comes to that, while crossing their fingers for a different result.
Still, they have to plan for the worst: KAT leaving next summer amid the team’s second-apron crunch. And that plan can’t stop with hitching their wagon to a 33-year-old Andre Drummond on a one-year deal, and potentially signing a training-camp big.
New York needs to set its sights higher
The Knicks already needed to make a move for another center. KAT and Drummond are the only two under guaranteed contracts for 2026-27. If the former signs an extension that keeps him in, ahem, town for the foreseeable future, you can get on board with the team signing Drew Eubanks or James Wiseman, and calling it a day.
That path won’t fly if Towns enters the season without a deal.
There will be exactly zero centers under guaranteed contract for 2027-28 in this scenario. That’s fine and dandy if Towns’ $61 million player option represented the chance to create cap space. It doesn’t. Depending on how Miles McBride’s own future plays out, New York may not even have the $16.1 million non-taxpayer mid-level exception at its disposal should KAT bolt.
Pushing forward with Eubanks or Wiseman does nothing to protect the Knicks against their worst-case outcome. The same now goes for someone like Moussa Diabate. He is a starting-caliber big, but his own free agency adds a layer of unpredictability to the equation New York can’t afford to navigate if Towns is a flight risk.
Landing someone who's under contract through at least 2027-28 needs to be the goal. Just as importantly, though, said big man needs to be on Diabate’s level or higher—a potential starter. Both sets of criteria eliminate possibilities such as Yves Missi (not good enough), Luka Garza (expiring contract), Micah Potter (expiring contract/not good enough), etc.
Trade targets that make the most sense for the Knicks
Complicated still, the Knicks don’t have the salary-matching tools or space beneath the second apron to acquire someone making well north of $7 million per year. Day’Ron Sharpe would be dynamite (once he’s trade-eligible), but New York will be hard-pressed to accommodate his $10 million price point.
With all of this in mind, the Knicks should be going after names like Zach Edey, Yang Hansen, or Kel’el Ware. If they don’t want to give up a first-round pick or swap, they can stretch the boundaries of starting-caliber, and add guys such as Jaylin Williams, Thomas Sorber, Dylan Cardwell, or Oso Ighodaro.
Rolling the dice on Dereck Lively II could even make sense. He’s scheduled for restricted free agency next summer, which heavily favors the team. His injuries would be the bigger concern.
Don’t interpret any of this as a call to replace Towns, or for the Knicks to nudge him toward the exit. All of these names would make fantastic backups. Some could be dual-big-lineup partners.
Targeting them is more about creating an ideal center rotation, with Towns and someone better than Drummond, while planning around the nightmare scenario that would be KAT pricing himself out of New York next summer.
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