Steve Popper: Knicks appreciate that Karl-Anthony Towns has put contract status aside
Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns looks on against the Chicago Bulls in the first half of an NBA basketball game at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
GREENBURGH — Before the season began, Mike Brown cautioned that he didn’t like to have an elephant in the room, any sort of ill will that could spoil a locker room’s vibes.
But as it happens at times around the Knicks, it seemed as if the locker room could be populated by an entire caravan of the elephants and circus animals that used to spend weeks at Madison Square Garden.
The long-awaited parade through the Canyon of Heroes had not even kicked off when team ownership declared that the organization would not go into the second apron, signaling that some of the championship pieces would be on the way out.
And then, on the eve of the season, the team released a statement that the contract extensions for a quartet of players — most urgently, Karl-Anthony Towns — would not be discussed until later in the season, putting the focus on getting ready for the games instead.
Maybe another star player, maybe almost every superstar player, would turn to quiet quitting, moping through the season until he got the contract he felt he had earned. Towns already had openly expressed his disappointment that a deal wasn’t close to getting done.
But he has been, well, himself, moving the ball unselfishly, recording double-doubles in each of the Knicks' first eight games and showing no hints of dissension.
Towns is averaging 19.9 points and 13.6 rebounds through the first eight games. He is shooting 57.3% overall and 42.9% from three-point range, both of which are career bests. He has been the most consistent force on a team that understandably has started the season with wild up-and-down swings in performance.
“I always want to impact winning and I want to be positive in our locker room,” Towns said after practice Friday as the Knicks readied to face the team that they dismantled in the Eastern Conference finals last season, the Cleveland Cavaliers. “You know, me and Jalen [Brunson], we’re here to lead the team and I want to do my part as best as I possibly can.
“I can't allow outside distractions and ego to get in the way. We won last year because we put our egos to the side and we did what's best for the city, best for this team, for this organization. And we sacrificed, and I'm always gonna be willing to sacrifice for my brothers and this family that we built here.”
That might sound more mature than some of the C-Suite folks making decisions that have left Towns waiting for the contract extension.
Before the first preseason game, Towns opened up about the contract talks, acknowledging that he would take less than the four-year, $276 million maximum he was up for and saying, “I mean, simply put, I want to do something that can keep the team together and that can work with the Knicks and also values me. And, I mean, none of those things have come close to happening.”
His contract status affects not only him but other Knicks such as Josh Hart, Deuce McBride and Tyler Kolek, who also are up for extensions. Unless the Knicks make some sort of trade or are willing to let one of these key pieces leave, it’s going to be difficult to walk the tightrope of finding a number acceptable to Towns and also remaining under the second apron.
The declaration in the preseason that the talks would not continue made it more difficult because it could have allowed for a larger Towns starting salary next season and gotten lower when Brunson is eligible for a new deal, too. Negotiating in-season off a championship season and an All-NBA season for Towns has little upside for the Knicks. Towns, however, has managed to push the contract controversy to the back of his mind, and that has helped the team on the court.
“Yeah, I didn't have any doubt on it, you know?” Brown said. “And obviously the contract stuff, that's something that Leon [Rose] and at the end of the day, Jim [Dolan], will handle. But for me as his coach, I can't even tell. I can't tell. He’s played really well and not just during the games, but practices, too.
“Man, I tell you what, KAT’s been great. He has been great in practice. Really everything. It would be easier for him to say the areas that he needs to be better in. And the first one is just putting his chest in front of the ball in pick-and-roll situations and activity in that regard. And then not looking for the home run pass all the time when he has the ball as our hub. And I say those two things because he's been doing so many things well for us.
“He's rebounding. He's running. He's shooting the ball well from three. He is passing when he doesn't go for a home run all the time. He's communicating. So there's the energy that he's bringing that’s great . . . So I'm really pleased with the way that KAT is playing overall.”
Said Towns, “I want to do my job as the best possible way and I want to impact winning. And every single time I put that jersey on, I step on the court, I want to impact winning and help my team be the best they could be. So, you know, obviously I’ve got more work to do so I could help our team more. But I'm happy that right now recently, especially last game, we showed glimpses of that team from last year. “
He’s happy, which is all the Knicks can ask right now.
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
