The business side threatens to interrupt all the good vibes around the Knicks.
They are able to almost fully run back their championship squad next year, with the only significant loss being Mitchell Robinson going to the Celtics.
But there are certainly questions about the future that will hover over the present.
The modern NBA, with its current CBA, pushes for league parity, making it difficult for champions to keep their cores intact for prolonged periods.
The Knicks have one more year before that might become their reality, but pivotal decisions for their future are already staring them in the face.
Karl-Anthony Towns’ contract situation is the key question this offseason and will likely remain so all year.
He is set to make around $57 million next year.
Then, for the 2027-28 season, he has a $61 million player option.
Towns is already eligible for an extension, with the max deal the Knicks can offer him being four years for $272 million — a staggering average annual value of $68 million.
If they do not reach a deal and Towns decides to decline his player option and test the open market in 2027, the standard veteran max would be a little less, at $266.6 million over four years.
If he plays on that player option, though, and hits free agency in ’28, that number would be higher.
Towns’ value should be well recognized after he helped the Knicks reach the Eastern Conference finals for the first time in 25 years in Year 1, then helped them win their first championship in 53 years in Year 2.
The past two seasons have helped him shed some of his lingering reputation that dogged him for much of his career, instead turning into widespread praise and proven-wrong apologies from fans and media.
The Knicks transformed their offense in the postseason via a system that was heavily reliant on Towns and his playmaking ability.
He proved that he could unlock another level defensively, too.
His status as an elite big was cemented.
But that’s the type of salary that usually goes to a team’s best player, not the second best (or at times, maybe even third best).
Towns is currently the highest-paid Knick, but that is because of Jalen Brunson’s well-documented financial sacrifice of leaving roughly $113 million on the table.
Towns will turn 31 next season, meaning any extension would carry him into his mid-30s — at a position that usually sees players age less gracefully than smaller players.
Brunson will be extension eligible in the ’28 offseason and has already hinted at his contract desires, telling Vanity Fair that “obviously we’d love for [the Knicks] to do right by me. I think anyone would. I feel like I sacrificed.”
President Leon Rose and his front office have been clever at manipulating the cap and making things work, but it does not seem feasible — with OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges already locked into long-term contracts — to have both Brunson and Towns on such massive deals.
Josh Hart’s future is also up in the air — he is due to make just under $21 million next year, then has a roughly $22 million team option for the 2027-28 season.
The Knicks were already pinching pennies to stay under the second apron this offseason — there is no way all five starters can be brought back on new, much more expensive contracts.
Unless Towns believes it’s his turn to sacrifice, as Brunson did, he and the Knicks could reach an agreement on an extension below the max amount. But he might also view this championship as validation of the type of player — and most importantly, winner — he spent his whole career trying to prove he is.
Until there is clarity, it will be the new elephant in the room.
