LAS VEGAS — With a chance to sign the second nine-figure contract of his career, Jalen Brunson was unavailable.
Negotiations, if you could even call them that, over a likely extension could not begin until the clock struck midnight on Friday. But long before any legalese came his way, the All-Star point guard was able to guess his team’s bid.
The New York Knicks were about to give Brunson everything they could, even though the deal would be disproportionate for a player of his size.
The team was given a cap on the amount it could pay Brunson, limited to a contract that would pay him far less than the contract he could sign if he waited until 2025 and then re-partnered with the organization.
Brunson decided long before he was eligible that he wanted to stay in New York, that he had fallen in love with the franchise, that he valued the security of a dollar today versus more dollars tomorrow, that he wanted to keep playing for head coach Tom Thibodeau and his Villanova friends and that he hoped to challenge for a title on a team that sees itself as a contender this coming season and beyond.
But when Friday came, Brunson had more important plans.
Instead of prioritizing business, Brunson was chilling with his dear friend and teammate, Josh Hart. He wanted to continue hanging out with his team so badly that he put off re-signing… because he was too busy with his team.
Build a statue for him 🥲
— Josh Hart (@joshhart) July 12, 2024
Brunson put pen to paper on Friday afternoon, a historic moment for the Knicks. No one else in the history of the league has recommitted to a franchise in this way.
The extension pays him $156.5 million over four years, $113 million less guaranteed than he could have received if he had waited until free agency. No player has ever left that much money on the table – especially one early in his prime.
The most famous cases of deep discounts in the NBA occurred among players who had already received huge paydays. Dirk Nowitzki signed a three-year, $25 million contract to return to the Dallas Mavericks in 2014, when he could have made almost four times as much if he had chosen, but Nowitzki was already in his mid-30s. Tim Duncan chopped off chunks of his salary so he could play for the San Antonio Spurs forever, but by then he was an established vet.
Brunson is opting for the cheaper contract today instead of entering free agency a year from now, when he would be eligible for a max contract worth a projected $269.1 million over five years.
There were financial arguments as to why holding on to the money was worth it. Brunson appreciated the security an extension would provide. This is still more money than some CEOs make in their entire lives. He might as well protect himself from injury.
By signing an extension now, he will also be eligible for his next extension, a year earlier than if he had waited for free agency to sign the five-year pact. Those extra 365 days can matter.
But there’s a reason why this is a remarkable moment. The Knicks are now open for business in an era that will undoubtedly be dominated by a punitive collective bargaining agreement that will stifle the flexibility of any hyper-expensive team.
Based on dollars alone, Brunson just pulled off the biggest financial favor in NBA history.
And it’s not close.
He signed with one priority in mind: taking whatever reasonable steps he could to go after that ring. The Knicks can now move forward knowing Brunson has a team-friendly contract through at least 2028. His new contract starts for the 2025-2026 season, and he has a player option for the final year. It comes with all the bells and whistles, including a 15 percent trade kicker, a league source said.
New York’s hopes of staying under the dreaded second platform, not only in 2024-2025 but also next season and possibly beyond, have become much more realistic. The Knicks, who traded five first-round picks (including four unprotected) for Mikal Bridges earlier this season, already believe their title window is open. Brunson’s expansion has tightened the glass even further, especially through 2026.
Bridges is under contract until then and will make $23.3 million this season and $24.9 million after that. Brunson will make approximately $34.9 million during his first year of the deal, when the Knicks will have allocated $153.2 million to nine players: Brunson, Bridges, Hart, OG Anunoby, Mitchell Robinson, Donte DiVincenzo, Miles McBride, Pacome Dadiet and Tyler Kolek. The second platform is expected to be approximately $207.8 million that season.
Staying under $207.8 million in payroll would create valuable assets for the Knicks. If they cross that threshold, they say goodbye to the mid-level exception, the ability to execute the most trades, and more.
Brunson may get a chance to recoup most of the money he gave up. If The Athletics The extension, detailed earlier this week, allows him to hit free agency in 2028 after his 10th year in the NBA. He is eligible for the largest max contract a player can get, with a projected value of $417 million over five years. If Brunson were to sign that, higher salaries in 2028-29 and 2029-30 would narrow the gap.
But 2028 is four years in the future. No one knows what will happen between now and then.
Players get hurt. They’re going backwards. Small point guards like Brunson have historically been more susceptible to such setbacks. For whatever reason, the Knicks could fall by then and choose to go in a different direction. They could hire a new front office or coach. This is the NBA, where dramatic changes can happen overnight, let alone over a four-year period.
There is no guarantee that Brunson will make this money back. But of course he didn’t do this to get rich. He did it to give his team the best chance at victory.
(Top photo of Jalen Brunson: Jesse D. Garrabrant / NBAE via Getty Images)