Knicks Pause All Extension Talks as Towns Saga Drags Toward Season Opener

The New York Knicks are done talking about money — for now. On Friday morning, with less than two weeks until the regular-season opener on October 20, the team announced it is pausing all contract extension negotiations with its extension-eligible players until later in the season. That covers Karl-Anthony Towns, Josh Hart, Miles McBride and Tyler Kolek, according to NBC Sports. A team spokesman said the organization's entire focus is preparing for the season, and it "will not be negotiating contract extensions until later in the season."

The move lands amid a public standoff with Towns. On Monday the star center expressed frustration with the process, saying he wanted a deal that both keeps the championship core together and values him — and that none of those things had come close to happening. The Post reported New York offered roughly four years and $200 million, about $77 million below his max, while Towns offered to take a discount but not that steep. Towns and Hart posted on X afterward and appeared unfazed. The deeper issue remains: with owner James Dolan determined to stay under the luxury-tax second apron, keeping the core together will require discounts the stars may not accept. Pausing talks may quiet the daily questions, but it leaves the biggest story in New York hovering over the entire season.