Jalen Brunson is staying with the Knicks albeit on a massive discount. The All-Star guard agreed to a four-year, $156.5 million extension on Friday, per reports. By signing this contract now instead of next offseason, the All-NBA Second Team selection is leaving more than $100 million in guaranteed money on the table. Brunson would have been eligible for a five-year, $269 million extension next summer.
That’s a $113M sacrifice that will be a massive boon for the Knicks’ ability to keep this team — which is about to become extremely expensive in the coming years — together for the long term. The Knicks’ OG Anunoby, Julius Randle and Mikal Bridges will join Brunson in making more than $23M next season.
According to ESPN, the deal will cost Brunson $37M over the next three years, but he could be in position to recoup some of this money on a four-year, $323M extension in 2028 (his new contract comes with a player option in the fourth year) or a new five-year, $418M deal in 2029.
Still, a lot can happen between now and 2028 or 2029, and perhaps Brunson was taking this factor of the unknown into account when he decided to sign now versus next summer.
Remember when Isaiah Thomas was about to land a massive deal that was believed to be in the range of $200 million and then suffered the injury which derailed his entire career before he could actually sign? He has made less than $15M since.
So Brunson takes that possibility off the table by securing his money now, but still, the chances of a career-altering injury or other market forces reducing his value by $100M over the course of one year seems pretty remote. He’s mostly doing this so the Knicks can keep the core of this young team together while flying under the second apron for the next half decade or more.
This is just an incredibly selfless move by one of the league best players and a man who is about to become a sainted figure in New York.