Knicks Training Camp Notes: Latest contract extension talks; backup center battle

A few notes from the first three days of Knicks training camp:

BACKUP PLAN

The Knicks are looking at Drew Eubanks, James Wiseman and Tony Bradley as potential third center options during training camp.

I didn’t get the sense that there was a clear favorite heading in to camp. Before training camp, the team told some potential free agents that it was looking for a big man on the younger side. I don’t think this disqualifies Eubanks (29), Bradley (28) or Wiseman (25).

Head coach Mike Brown was asked about both Wiseman and Bradley during training camp news conferences and offered praise for both players.

BROWN ON WISEMAN, WHOM HE COACHED AT GOLDEN STATE

"Fantastic human being, fantastic young man…. Good to see him in the gym. When you’re that long and that athletic, with skill – he has skill – there’s a place for you in this league. Sometimes it takes the right moment, the right team, the right situation, all that stuff, to be able to fit someplace and grow. We have a lot of great guys in camp that have potential of impacting us in a lot of different ways throughout the course of the year. He’s definitely one of the many guys that we have that we’re excited about."

BROWN ON BRADLEY

"We’re looking for bigs. Tony’s a veteran guy that’s still in his prime and has a good feel for the game, knows how to play the game the right way and he’s hurt us in the past. To be honest, when a guy hurts you in the past, you tend to remember him more than others. So to be able to add him to camp was a positive for us because again, I said this last year, (Karl-Anthony Towns) has one of the most (challenging positions) out of everybody because I want to move him around when I play him at center. I want to play him at power forward; (when he’s at) power forward 1-4 is interchangeable. Same with OG (Anunoby). OG we put him at the 5 last year. We probably will do it a little bit more this year as well. 

"But to be able to do that, you’ve gotta have enough centers around on the team, so having Tony here with his skill set and feel is definitely a blessing because we’re looking at that position heavily."

The Knicks can also trade for a third center later in the season. On the wings, I think John Konchar had a solid chance to make the opening night roster before he had to leave training camp due to personal issues. Maybe that creates a lane for Bruce Brown Jr. or Ochai Agbaji? In order to keep a veteran center and veteran wing on the regular season roster, the Knicks would have to trade one of their players on NBA deals. They’d have to do this because they are not going to spend above the second apron in team salary, according to owner James Dolan. If they changed course and decided to spend above the second apron, the Knicks would have the roster spots available to keep both a veteran big and veteran wing without making a trade.

The decision to stay below the second apron gave the Knicks very little chance of retaining Mitchell Robinson.

The Knicks made it clear they will miss Robinson but also are bullish on new backup center Andre Drummond.

"We’re not expecting Andre to come in and be Mitch or impact the game in a lot of different ways than Mitch did,” Brown said this week. “Just be yourself and everybody else has to step up and box out a little harder and come across earlier to help stop the penetration sooner, all those things that will make us a top level team. We can all do a little bit better together."

EXTENSION APPREHENSION? 

It seems unlikely at this point that the Knicks will agree to extensions with Towns, Josh Hart or Miles McBride before the regular season. There is clearly a gap between what the Knicks are offering Towns and what he’s looking for. Logically, the Knicks need to figure out Towns’ situation before they can address Hart or McBride. The club’s immediate financial future is impacted greatly by Towns’ $61 million player option for 2027-28. If he agreed to an extension, Towns would presumably decline the extension and have a lower annual salary for 2027-28.

If extensions are not signed before the season starts, I’m sure Towns, Hart and McBride will maintain the same approach to their job. But, as Hart noted, it’s only natural for contract uncertainty to impact a player’s life on or off the court.

"Once the season starts (and if no extension is reached), I’ll probably have that mentality of 'I don’t really wanna deal with this, I want to try and focus on playing the season.' (But) I’m sure there will probably be a little extra weight to the jersey," Hart said this week. "You don’t know the certainty of your situation and obviously it affects home life. There are certain things that you might want to do, but you’re like ‘I can’t, because I have no idea what the situation will be in two months, three months, four months, in a year, if I’m gonna be here or not.’ You don’t know. But hopefully, like I said, I’m a Knick, I’d love to be a Knick and I love the city."

"…At the end of the day, we’re humans and I think what sometimes gets lost is that we are people, that we all have lives and things that we have to deal with and fix," Hart said in response to a separate question later in his interview. "I wish I could sit there and say it wouldn’t have any weight or any bearing, but you never know. Some people can handle it great and some people can really struggle with it and that can kill their performance. I hope it gets done, but we’ll see."
Unless the Knicks decide to exceed the second apron in team salary, it will be difficult for the club to extend all three of Towns, Hart and McBride.

To illustrate this, let’s use $75 million as a combined annual salary for the first year of Towns and Hart extensions. With this number, the Knicks would have roughly $13-$14 million in second apron space to offer McBride. 

But the bigger hurdle, in my view, is the 2028-29 season.

Let’s say Jalen Brunson signs a max extension that starts in 2028-29.  If you take Brunson’s deal and combine it with a total $75-$80 million in extensions for Towns and Hart, the Knicks would have around $10 million under the second apron for either McBride or another player. This number doesn’t account for an extension for OG Anunoby. Anunoby would be eligible for an extension. And obviously, that $10 million is certainly below McBride’s market value. So the Knicks have to navigate a tough situation with these extensions if they want to remain below the second apron in team salary. 

To date, not much has changed on the Knicks’ side: they think very highly of Towns and want him to be a Knick for a long time. The Knicks, in earlier negotiations, offered Towns a contract with a starting number of between $45-$50 million, as SNY reported. I don’t know if they have or haven’t increased their offers to Towns. Again, everything here is based on the Knicks’ commitment to staying under the second apron.

BIGGER ROLE FOR OG?

If you’re reading this, you already know that OG Anunoby played at an incredibly high level in the playoffs. He shot 49 percent from beyond the arc across all four rounds.

Brown was effusive when asked about Anunoby’s shooting this week.

The coach said Anunoby is "not Steph (Curry) or Klay (Thompson)-level, but he's like the next tier. He's way better what I thought. His confidence is really high."

A look at the postseason numbers leads to an interesting question: will Anunoby supplant Towns as the Knicks’ clear No. 2 option on offense?

Anunoby’s usage and shots were steady across the regular season and postseason. Towns’ usage and shots dropped noticeably in the playoffs. In the Finals, Towns was preoccupied with defending Victor Wembenyama, which he did masterfully. But if Anunoby’s shooting can carry over to this regular season, it will be interesting to see if there is a shift in the Knicks’ hierarchy. Maybe Anunoby becomes New York’s No. 2 option behind Brunson?

Towns is obviously a brilliant offensive player, so this wouldn’t be about anything he can or can’t do on that end of the floor. It’s moreso about Anunoby’s growth. Brown this week mentioned the possibility of Anunoby and Mikal Bridges playing in more pick-and-roll in the coming season. He also mentioned how Anunoby’s jab step – while not exactly lightning-quick – was effective.

Given all of this, it’s worth keeping an eye on New York’s offensive hierarchy early in the season.

HART HURTING

Josh Hart will deal with intermittent pain in his shooting hand for the rest of his career. He explained on Thursday why he’ll delay surgery to repair his right finger until after retirement. When asked about it, Hart said he still has to deal with pain in the finger/hand.

"Some days it'll be it'll be good. Some days it'll hurt to catch the ball. It just, it varies. I wish I could tell you when I wake up, what's gonna be good, what's gonna be bad. But yeah, I mean, somedays it’s good like a regular functioning finger. And other days it hurts to just close my hand, to make a fist," he said.

This is obviously something the Knicks will monitor all season. Last year, Hart and the team’s approach worked well. Hart shot a career-high 41 percent from beyond the arc and hit 40 percent of his threes in the NBA Finals. Brown has been impressed by Hart – and the coaches/trainers around him – for the way they’ve handled the hand injury.

"It just shows to he is…he's tough; he's tough," Brown said this week. "But more importantly, there’s dedication there to wanting to be a great shooter, and you’ve got to put (in work to reach that level). And he puts in the work, even though his fingers bothering him, and even though it's a little crooked, you know, he's putting in the work to get it right. And, you know, (Knicks shooting coach Peter Patton) and the rest of the coaches are helping him out, and it shows. He can shoot at a high level with the dedication he has in the first place (and with assistance from the Knicks staff)."