James L. Edwards III of The Athletic is confident that the Knicks‘ front office will offer Karl-Anthony Towns an extension this offseason, but he doesn’t expect New York to put a maximum-salary contract on the table for the big man. A full max deal for Towns would be worth a projected $272.8MM over four seasons, beginning in 2027/28.

As Edwards outlines, Towns has done everything he reasonably could to prove worthy of a max contract since being acquired from Minnesota ahead of the 2024/25 season. He has been an All-Star in each of his two years with the Knicks, appeared in 147 of 164 possible regular season games, and averaged 22.2 points and 12.3 rebounds per contest. He was also an indispensable contributor during New York’s title run after adjusting to a new offensive role under head coach Mike Brown in ’25/26.

Still, Towns will be entering his age-31 season and the Knicks’ team salary is getting increasingly expensive, so a max deal for Towns would carry significant risk and would compromise the team’s spending flexibility moving forward, Edwards observes.

Because Towns holds a player option for 2027/28, he’ll remain extension-eligible throughout the season. If he and the Knicks don’t reach a new deal before opening night, he’d have to decline that ’27/28 option and replace it with the first year of a new deal in order to extend during the season.

We have more on the Knicks:

• Gersson Rosas‘ departure from the Knicks was amicable, according to Stefan Bondy of The New York Post, who notes (via Twitter) that Rosas’ contract had expired, so it’s not like he stepped down or was let go. Rosas felt as if he needed to explore other opportunities in order to grow as an executive, Bondy explains. As Jared Schwartz of The New York Post writes (subscription required), in his role as the Knicks’ senior VP of basketball operations, Rosas frequently served as the team’s “point man” in trade negotiations and had a significant voice in the decision to acquire Towns, having worked with him in Minnesota.
• Brown’s coaching staff isn’t expected to undergo any major changes ahead of the coming season, according to Schwartz, who says all of the front-of-bench assistants are expected to return, though there’s “a bit of uncertainty” about whether Jordan Brink will be back.
• With the NBA’s regular season schedule announcement expected to happen next week, ESPN’s Vincent Goodwill notes that each Knicks/Sixers matchup in 2026/27 will be of great interest. Goodwill spoke to league insiders about how the two teams will match up and which one should be considered the favorite in the Eastern Conference.