Karl-Anthony Towns is on some notable radars amid his uncertain situation with the New York Knicks.
The Chicago Bulls and the LA Clippers are considered to be the two teams with the clearest paths to landing the Knicks star center Towns if he hits the open market, Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News reported Thursday. Bondy notes that the Brooklyn Nets, Golden State Warriors, and Dallas Mavericks could also potentially create space for Towns but with more complications.
Towns, 30, is entering his final guaranteed season under contract with the Knicks at $57.1 million. He can become a free agent next summer by declining his $61 million player option for 2027-28.
The six-time All-Star Towns would like a pay raise from the Knicks after helping lead them to the 2026 NBA championship with averages of 20.1 points, 11.9 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game. But New York wants to avoid the second apron of the luxury tax at all costs and is looking for Towns to take a pay cut of tens of millions instead.
The Knicks also recently made the decision to shut down contract talks with all of their extension-eligible players, making a public announcement that they would no longer be negotiating until later on in the season. That led to a fiery response from Towns, who said that he was “very disappointed” in the team.
Meanwhile, the Bulls and Clippers are both rebuilding teams, but both will have plenty of cap space at their disposal come summer 2027. Towns could foreseeably make sense in Chicago as a long-term partner in the frontcourt to Caleb Wilson or as a potential focal point of a floundering post-Aspiration Clippers roster.
