LeBron Injury Update and Giannis Fit! Big Questions With Steve Nash!

Okay, the next two big, of the big four things that happened in the East are both contract related.

We will start, uh, today, Karl-Anthony Towns basically came out and told the media, I'll s- I'll read the quote, "Simply put, I want to do something to keep the team together, and can work with the Knicks, and also values me.

None of these things are close to happening." AKA, he basically said, "We're not close to an extension." Doesn't sound optimistic about getting an extension.

I think they're pretty far apart from what I've heard.

Obviously they met, they let Mitchell Robinson go already after James Dolan followed up an NBA championship by immediately being like, "Yeah, we can't keep this team together.

Second apron can't do it." Um, I just, you, you were a player who, who, who cared a lot about the feel of your locker room and everybody being engaged, and everybody feeling happy, and everybody touching the ball.

Um, if this kind of thing with KAT and I think less so with Josh Hart lingers into the season, I, personally, I think, like, KAT's a pro.

He was in trade rumors last year about Giannis, and obviously it didn't affect their team.

I don't think there's gonna be any, like, there's no overt malcontent here or anything like that.

I'm gonna get back to Dolan in a second, but, um, can this stuff, like, affect the way the team plays on the floor? Is this anything that would worry you as a Knicks fan?

I mean, it definitely can affect things.

However, you know, they've fought through things like this before, you know? You'll remember the quotes, uh, KAT had early in the Mike Brown era where he wasn't sure what his place was on offense.

It sounded ominous.

Then they go out, they win the Midseason tournament, and then they find a kind of a, a style of play, a more You know, um, [smacks lips] egalitarian style, a style that I think made them more difficult to guard, less predictable, put Kat in different positions, used him as a hub.

Uh, got the ball moving a little more, made it, made it more difficult to load up on Jaylen.

Um, so they've worked through some things before.

Now, money is money, and I never want someone to have to turn down money if that is their prerogative.

However, I think there's a common ground here where these guys are all gonna make so much money in their career that they can find that middle ground by not getting so deep into second apron peril.

Uh, and at the same time, he'll be rewarded for his role in a championship team and the team going forward.

So I have hopes that they will figure out a balance that both can live with.

But that's the reality of the way these, you know, the salary cap is built.

There's no...

It's very hard to be happy [chuckles].

You, you know, you, you, you're gonna be up against the apron if you build a good team, and we're seeing that around the league.

And you have a decision like Boston or maybe OKC made this year to go in a direction that kinda gives them relief from the second apron and flexibility going forward.