Jalen Brunson was quickly becoming the king of current New York sports as it was, but after giving the Knicks what will likely amount to a $37M discount on the four-year extension he signed on Friday, he might be on his way to an even bigger title: most beloved Knick ever.
That’s a behemoth of a statement, and it’s probably not true yet. Patrick Ewing still feels like the guy, with Walt Frazier and Willis Reed right there. But Brunson, after just two years in the Big Apple, is positioned to take Ewing’s throne sooner rather than later not just because of this significant bit of organizational philanthropy that is likely going to allow the young core of this team to stay together for potentially the next half-decade, but because New York has watched him evolve from the 2022 free agent that everyone thought was getting overpaid into a full-fledged superstar.
This is a fan base that had reason to believe it was going to land LeBron James in 2010. Instead, they traded the farm for Carmelo Anthony and won just seven playoff games over the next 10 seasons. This is a marquee franchise if there ever was one, and yet Kevin Durant announced to the world that it wasn’t cool to play for the Knicks as he and Kyrie Irving spurned them for their Brooklyn neighbor in 2019.
Brunson was just coming off his rookie season with Dallas at that point, and there was no indication at all that he was on a path to be anyone’s franchise player, let alone the New York Knicks’. Again, when New York got him in 2022, even as great as he’s been for Dallas, it was widely regarded as a reach to pay him $104 million. It turned out to be one of the league’s biggest bargains.
The overwhelming majority of players that had outplayed the first contract extension of their career, surely to the extent that Brunson has, would be looking to secure as much money as possible on their next deal. But Brunson has potentially sacrificed as much as $113 million for the team.
Now, that number requires some context. It’s really only $37M over the next three years based on a bunch of salary-cap numbers that are outlined here, as it was always unlikely that Brunson would commit to the Knicks, or anyone, beyond the summer of 2028. At that point, as a 10-year veteran, he will become eligible for the full max at 35% of the cap, which, based on future cap projections, could equate a mind-boggling five-year extension worth more than $417 million.
All of which is to say, Brunson definitely has his own financial motivations to sign this extension now rather than waiting until next summer, which would’ve pushed his subsequent free-agent summer to 2029, a year beyond the minimum amount of time he now needs to wait to become eligible for his absolute maximum.
The bottom line is this: Even if the reality here is that Brunson is taking a calculated risk more directly aimed at maximizing his own ultimate payday, the prevailing perception is that he just potentially gave up a king’s ransom in the name of the team. Both could actually be true. There’s no guarantee that Brunson won’t get hurt, or even see his future value decline due to unforeseen market forces, and never actually realize these expected payoffs.
Either way, the perception, in this case, is going to trump reality, because with the money these guys make these days, there is nothing easier to get behind than a superstar giving up a bunch of cash so the team is able to flourish. Tom Brady did it. Tim Duncan did it. A rising tide lifts all boats, and the Knicks are definitely on the rise after trading for Mikal Bridges and re-signing OG Anunoby. This is a legit title contender.
By surrendering this short-term money, Brunson is effectively ensuring that the Knicks are not a one- or two-year wonder that ultimately can’t stay together long enough to realise their full potential. Leon Rose waited this thing out, making smart, shorter-term commitments and saving his trade capital for the right moves in Bridges and Anunoby, but Brunson’s discount deal is what makes a half-decade run a realistic outlook in this new second-apron world.
It’s almost impossible to put a value on what that means to a Knicks fanbase that has been yearning for a savior. Carmelo didn’t work out. LeBron, Durant, Kyrie, they all said no. Brunson, after admitting he would have stayed with the Mavericks had they offered him the $55M for which he was eligible to sign, was the surprise superstar nobody saw coming; the gift that, whether in the form of his basketball or contractual heart, keeps on giving. New York is going to love him for this. Even more than it already did. Eventually, probably more than it has ever loved any Knicks player.