The Knicks have put contract extension talks on hold until later in the season, according to CBS Sports. Karl-Anthony Towns, Josh Hart, Miles McBride and Tyler Kolek are all eligible for extensions, and all four will begin the campaign without knowing their long-term financial picture. CBS framed the timing as a dent in the mood around a team that is about to defend its title.
Why the timing matters for Towns
CBS Sports argues the bigger issue with Towns is how a deal gets built, not whether one happens. Players with multiple years left on their contracts cannot extend once the season starts, but the preseason window is open. Towns holds a $61.6 million player option for 2027-28. Had he signed beforehand, CBS wrote, the Knicks could have used that option to load the money early and let his salary fall meaningfully afterward.
An in-season extension would require him to turn that option down. The new contract would then have to be more evenly spread, since salary within a single deal cannot rise or fall by more than 8% a year. That matters, CBS said, because the Knicks' real crunch arrives in 2028-29, when Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby begin new contracts through their player options. A smaller 2027-28 figure would also make it easier to stay out of next year's second apron.
The structure is not gone for good. CBS noted that Towns could simply pick up the option in the offseason and reopen talks then.
The math around Hart
CBS projects Brunson's next contract at close to 35% of the cap, with Towns somewhat below that. Anunoby's 2028-29 option is estimated at 26.2% of the cap, and Mikal Bridges sits near 21% that same year. By CBS's count, the top four players would together take roughly 110 to 115% of the cap, and those deals would cover fewer prime years than the current ones.
That leaves Hart, whom CBS calls the fifth starter and the team's heartbeat. The Knicks hold a team option on him rather than a player option, which CBS says could give them leverage to seek better terms. He is also the oldest of the five starters and turns 32 during the season. CBS wrote that his game is the least likely to age well and said hesitation on a long-term extension would be understandable.
CBS also saw no ready in-house successor. It said the Knicks have been reluctant to pair McBride with Brunson in the starting group, and it described Landry Shamet as improved on defense but a durability concern. Mohamed Diawara, a second-round pick on a cheap long-term deal, is a long way from filling the role, in the outlet's view. A trade would be difficult too: CBS said the Knicks' only tradable first-round pick is in 2033.
What comes next
The Knicks' talks are now set to resume later in the season. CBS's reading is that Hart remains essential to the team's title hopes for now, but that the cost of re-signing Towns makes it more realistic that this starting lineup is eventually split up.
Reporting sources: CBS Sports Headlines, “Takeaways from Knicks pausing contract extension talks: Is Josh Hart's time in New York running out?”.