Uncertainty has swirled around New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns ever since he failed to reach a contract extension this offseason. With two years left on his four-year, $220.4 million deal, including a player option for 2027-28, trade rumors naturally followed. But Towns has now pushed back against all that speculation, delivering a clear message that aims to put the rumors to rest.

“Hell yeah. I want to stay here. I obviously get a chance to be home, see my family. It means more than the money,” Towns said when asked about his contract situation with the organization. “So just to be able to be here with the fans, be with the family. It means a lot. I would like it to continue.”

The New Jersey native was eligible for a two-year, $150 million extension before the October 20th deadline. These two years would’ve been added on top of the two he has on his contract currently, and would see him earn approximately a whopping $110 million. However, Karl-Anthony Towns chose not to exercise that option and is possibly holding out for a much bigger extension.

However, this failed extension talk doesn’t mean that there’s bad blood between the 30-year-old and the Knicks front office. On the contrary, he further revealed that he was about to grab lunch with team president Leon Rose and senior vice president of basketball operations, Gersson Rosas, indicating that everything is great between him and the management.

“Me, (team president Leon Rose) and (senior vice president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas) and everyone, we’re great,” Towns added. “I’ll go have lunch with them right now. We’re good.”

This is a huge sigh of relief for the Knicks faithful. KAT has been an instrumental part of this team since joining them through a blockbuster trade last season. More so because he’s also been pretty impressive so far in this campaign as well. This season, the big man is averaging 22.1 points along with a team-high 11.7 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game.

While his terrific stat line should be enough on its own to display how good he has been, the adaptability he’s shown this season makes it even more impressive. Karl-Anthony Towns had to fit into a new role for the 2025-26 campaign, as newly appointed head coach Mike Brown demanded more versatility from the towering center.

Although he struggled at first, but seems to have a hold of things now. So, it’s safe to say that things only look better from now on for the Knicks superstar. Meanwhile, while he’s cleared the air around his future with New York, there are rumbles that another superstar might be on his way to join the Knicks before the February trade deadline.

New York is once again among the top contenders to land Giannis Antetokounmpo

It seemed like the Giannis Antetokounmpo and the New York Knicks rumors were firmly silenced when the season began, and the Greek Freak was still a Milwaukee player. However, recently, those rumors have started to swirl once again, after the two-time MVP deleted all his Bucks-related posts from his official Instagram account and even tweets from his X account.

“Giannis has wiped his Twitter posts back to 2021 and removed all Bucks content from his IG… except the championship and in-season cup memories. The last post available now is a picture of Kobe. Something brewing in Milwaukee or just a reset?” Bet USA wrote on X.

While the 31-year-old hasn’t publicly stated his desire to move away from the Milwaukee Bucks, moves like these are usually an indication of when a player wants to request a trade. And as you’d expect, this has prompted many to believe that Giannis Antetokounmpo might be on his way to New York.

After all, not too long ago, reports seemingly revealed that the Big Apple was Giannis’ preferred destination for a move during the offseason. So, it’s only right to assume that his thoughts about the franchise and the city haven’t changed in the past few months. If anything, he might feel even stronger toward the franchise.

Nonetheless, these are mere speculations for now, as the entire NBA world awaits some sort of confirmation from either the player or the franchise. Meanwhile, we’ll still be keeping a close eye on any further developments on this situation.