After losing to the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals this year, Victor Wembanyama signed a max deal with the San Antonio Spurs. But he took a pay cut. Instead of signing for the 30% supermax after making an All-NBA Team, he inked a deal worth just 25% of the cap, giving the Spurs more flexibility. But that could make things more difficult for the Knicks when they go to extend Karl-Anthony Towns.
Towns is going to need a new contract in the next couple of years. He technically has two years left on his contract, but the second year is a player option that Towns could decline in hopes of signing for more money. New York will probably want Towns to take a slight pay cut to help them keep the team together, and Wemby taking a pay cut could give them some ground to stand on.
But Towns may still want a max. And if he wants a max and plans to stick to his guns, things could get tricky for the Knicks.
Victor Wembanyama's pay cut could make Knicks' Karl-Anthony Towns negotiation awkward
As soon as Wemby signed for less than he could have, it put the rest of the league’s stars on notice. Because now, teams can point to Wembanyama’s contract and say, ‘Can’t you take a deal like that?’
Obviously, the Knicks know what it’s like for a player to take a pay cut. Technically, Jalen Brunson didn’t take a direct pay cut, but he signed a year earlier than he could have and left a ton of money on the table.
Brunson doing that allowed the Knicks to keep their core intact, and it paid off in a big way, as that exact core was able to bring home the NBA Championship this year.
But that was a few years ago. And outside of Brunson, players don’t often take pay cuts. Especially not direct pay cuts when there is literally more money directly on the table. But Wemby did.
That is inevitably going to hurt the market for players. And if you’re the Knicks, and you look at how much money Wemby just took – a guy who is a top-five player in the NBA – how much are you going to pay Towns?
Meanwhile, Towns is probably looking at everything he’s accomplished in New York, helping them win a title, and believing that he deserves a max contract or close to it.
The problem with that is if Towns takes that much money, New York will almost certainly have to let at least one of its other starters walk in the coming years.
Combine that with the star market that Wemby set when he took a pay cut to help the Spurs, and it could make things a bit awkward when it comes to Knicks-Towns extension negotiations.
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