Brunson Agrees to $156.5M from Knicks

New York is living up to their moniker as the ‘City that never sleeps’. All-Star point guard Jalen Brunson is getting handsomely rewarded by the New York Knicks, but he is working with the organization by taking a significant haircut.

Brunson has agreed to a four-year, $156.5 million contract extension, according to ESPN’s senior NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski, before being eligible for a five-year, $269 million deal next summer. The stark difference in those deals is $113 million in guaranteed money.

Brunson was already under contract for the 2024-25 campaign with a salary of $25 million, with the opportunity to opt out in 2025.

It is a bit more complex than Brunson being willing to forego a nine-figure discount to the Knicks. As Wojnarowski explains, Brunson will be receiving $37.1 million less over the next three years, but his fourth and final year is a player option. If he chooses to opt out, Brunson will reportedly be eligible to take another bite at the apple for a four-year, $323 million deal in 2028 or a five-year, $418 million deal in 2029.

That would play a factor in why Brunson is taking a pay cut now, but his deal most certainly gives the Knicks flexibility in keeping their contender together after signing OG Anunoby to a five-year, $212.5 million deal, which is the most in franchise history and shipping off nearly every first-round draft pick possible to obtain Mikal Bridges from the Brooklyn Nets.

One of Brunson’s fellow Villanova Knicks, Josh Hart, sees his deal as the floor general being the ultimate team player.

Brunson is doing his team a favor and potentially himself a favor in the long run as well, assuming he is still peaking at his All-Star status in 2028 when he will be 31 years old.

This contract is the latest in a Knicks offseason that has generated no shortage of hype and excitement. However, everything has not been roses and the team did lose standout center Isaiah Hartenstein to the Oklahoma City Thunder in free agency, where he earned 87.5M, but the retention of Anunoby means the team will be able to double down on a nucleus that came together as one of the best teams in the NBA when the trade-deadline acquisition was healthy.

The addition of Bridges makes their already superior defensive identity even stronger, while giving them another player maker and scorer who can complement Brunson on offense, as Bridges did for three years while at Villanova.

One of the main obstacles of this offseason was concerns about financial flexibility in the future. Fortunately, Brunson was willing to help them out.

Two years ago, the Knicks managed to pry Brunson away from Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks for a four-year, $104 million contract to play in the worlds most famous arena, Madison Square Garden, losing a second-round pick in the process after the NBA determined they tampered with him.

No one is up in arms about that lost pick now, because signing Brunson already looks like one of the best moves in Knicks history.

After four years of operating as a complementary piece to Doncic at best, Brunson blossomed into one of the best guards in the NBA once given the reins with the Knicks. His value goes beyond the court as well, as a leader for the team’s Villanova-heavy young core under head coach Tom Thibodeau.

At roughly $26 million per season, there were few better bargains in the NBA than Brunson’s contract, and now he is helping the team out even more.