The Knicks and Karl-Anthony Towns Are Already Playing Contract Chicken

The New York Knicks finally reached the mountaintop, and their reward is immediately having to play a high-stakes game of financial chicken with Karl-Anthony Towns.

Shams Charania reported Wednesday that extension negotiations between the reigning NBA champions and their All-Star big man have officially stagnated.

"Reporting for NBA Today — extension negotiations have stagnated between the reigning champion Knicks and All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns."

Winning a ring usually buys a franchise at least one full summer of good vibes before the business side ruins everything. Instead, the Knicks are staring down a contract standoff just weeks before training camp opens.

We know Jalen Brunson is expected to be fully ready for camp after dealing with a wrist injury, which should be the only thing New York fans care about right now. But the front office is currently stuck trying to figure out how to pay everyone without triggering the kind of luxury tax penalties that require a sovereign wealth fund to cover.

This is the exact type of front-office friction that makes betting markets nervous about a repeat. You do not want to be holding a futures ticket on a defending champion whose star big man is spending his media days answering questions about his expiring deal instead of the pick-and-roll.

Towns did exactly what he was brought to New York to do, helping hang a banner in Madison Square Garden. Now he wants the market-rate bag that comes with being a championship anchor, while the Knicks are suddenly trying to act like responsible accountants.

With their first preseason action looming around October 5, the clock is ticking. The Knicks either need to find the money to keep their core happy, or get ready to defend a title with a massive, seven-foot distraction hanging over the locker room.