At Monday’s media day, Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns was asked about a potential contract extension, per James L. Edwards III of The Athletic (Twitter link).

“I’ve made it known that I want to play here; I’ve been a fan since a kid,” Towns said. “I would like to get one done. I’d like to get it done and step on the floor and feel as comfortable as possible.”

Towns will make $57MM this season and has a $61MM player option for the 2027/28 campaign. His maximum extension, which would replace the option, would be worth a projected $276MM over four years ($69MM annually).

Towns was subsequently asked whether he’d prefer to table extension talks once the season starts or if he was comfortable with in-season negotiations, tweets Ian Begley of SNY.tv.

“I think in this situation there’s no comfortability to be had,” Towns replied. 

ESPN recently reported that talks between the Knicks and the star big man have “stagnated” and that a deal is unlikely to be completed in the short term. Subsequent reporting suggested the two sides might be “eight figures apart on an annual basis.”

Towns, a six-time All-Star, said he’s shed some weight this offseason, according to Edwards (Twitter link), and said he was “very surprised” the team decided not to re-sign backup center Mitchell Robinson in free agency.

“I was very surprised, Mitch not back here with us,” Towns said (Twitter link via Steve Popper of Newsday). “I think all of us were. Surprise to everybody, thought something would get done there.”

Veteran wing Josh Hart is also extension-eligible, but his contract situation is a little different. Rather than a player option for 2027/28, the Knicks hold a $22.4MM team option on his deal.

Like Towns, Hart made it clear his priority is signing an extension with New York, per SNY Knicks (Twitter video link).

“You always want to get it done, kind of as soon as possible,” Hart said. “You don’t want that trickling into the season because whenever there’s uncertainty, there’s going to be a lot of questions. There’s going to be a lot of rumors and at a human level, sometimes that can wear people down and it can affect how you go out and handle business on a day-to-day basis, just some of that uncertainty.

“Obviously, that’s something that you want to get done so you don’t have to deal with that and focus on that. We know at the end of the day, it’s a business. You have situations like that and you never know what’s going to happen, but for me, as long as I wear this jersey, I’m going to play as hard as I can for my guys and the city.

“Hopefully, we can figure that out. We know it’s a business and we know if some of these things aren’t figured out by February, it might be a different conversation.”