Knicks face a looming extension decision for Karl-Anthony Towns as Giannis talks compress the offseason

The New York Knicks are two wins from their first NBA championship since 1973, and the center at the middle of their title run is Karl-Anthony Towns. As that reality pulls the organization toward the offseason’s most important question, Towns’ camp and the Knicks front office are expected to revisit whether a long-term deal makes sense now, not later. At the same time, the broader market is waiting on a different star, Giannis Antetokounmpo, because his decision is widely viewed as the first domino in the 2026 offseason.

For New York, Towns is entering the part of his contract that turns leverage into calendar. He is slated to earn about $57.1 million next season, and he holds a player option for 2027-28 that would need to be declined for an extension offer this summer to work. Reporting out of The Athletic, relayed by Hoops Rumors, frames the situation as a near-certainty that extension talks would be discussed this offseason if the Knicks win the championship, with the reported range for a deal described as “up to” a projection near $272 million over four years. Even that projection comes with the usual caveat of team-building math: New York’s payroll picture makes it unlikely the front office would simply agree to the maximum number on its first pass.

The extension question also carries a personal storyline that is hard to ignore inside the league. Towns was traded to the Knicks from the Minnesota Timberwolves in a three-team deal that brought Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo to Minnesota. For Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards, Towns was not just a roster-mate. Edwards said, “I think everybody knows KAT’s my brother, so that definitely hurt,” adding that it is “a business” and he had to roll with it. Now, as Towns plays the best basketball of his Knicks career during the Finals, Minnesota’s former centerpiece is chasing the kind of ring that makes the trade look inevitable in hindsight, even if it did not feel that way to the people left behind.

Outside of New York’s building, Milwaukee’s situation is shaping how quickly negotiations can move. The Miami Herald reported that Bucks ownership wants Antetokounmpo’s future resolved by the start of the NBA Draft on June 23, with co-owner Jimmy Haslam indicating Milwaukee would trade him if he does not commit to an extension that would keep him off the free agent market. The same reporting points to Miami as the most frequently mentioned landing spot, while emphasizing that the Bucks have not been expected to push a deal until the playoffs conclude and the market becomes clearer. Official NBA materials confirm the draft timeline, with the first round scheduled for June 23 and the second round for June 24.

That matters for the Knicks because their extension calculus does not happen in a vacuum. A Giannis trade would likely redraw the competitive landscape for next season, which in turn affects how aggressively teams pursue cap flexibility, what kind of assets they are willing to move, and whether a “major move” becomes necessary or optional. For New York, locking in Towns would also remove a major point of uncertainty in the middle of its rotation, but it would do so at a moment when the market is still negotiating around a separate superstar timeline. Hoops Rumors notes that New York previously tabled extension discussions less than a year ago before the current run, underscoring that the Knicks appear to prefer to make certain decisions only after the on-court evidence settles in.

In practical terms, the next few weeks will reveal which parts of this offseason are fixed and which are contingent. Towns’ camp will want clarity on whether the Knicks are ready to convert their Finals investment into a long-term commitment, and New York’s front office will want confidence that the contract fits the team’s broader financial constraints. Meanwhile, Antetokounmpo’s path will likely set the pace for several other trade and free-agent discussions, because once Milwaukee’s plan is known, teams can stop preparing for multiple scenarios and start executing a single one.