Report: Jalen Brunson could sign extension this offseason, taking huge pay cut
New York Knicks star guard Jalen Brunson will be one of five Knick players who will be extension-eligible this offseason.
He will be eligible to sign a four-year, $156 million extension, but could ultimately sign a five-year max extension upwards of $270 million if he waits to sign the extension the following season by opting out of the final year of his contract.
Though according to Steve Popper of Newsday, “all indications” suggest that Brunson is leading toward the former of the two options.
He is entering the fourth year of a four-year, $104 million deal he signed ahead of the 2022-23 season with New York. Up to this point, he’s certainly outplayed that contract. This season, he averaged 28.7 points, 3.6 rebounds and 6.7 assists, shooting 47.9 percent from the floor, 40.1 percent from 3-point range and 84.7 percent from the free-throw line. In 13 playoff games, the All-Star guard posted 32.4 points and 7.5 assists before fracturing his hand in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Indiana Pacers–a game New York lost by 21.
The final year of Brunson’s contract–a player option–is worth approximately $25.0 million, per Spotrac. Should it be normally structured with eight percent raises, the first year of a four-year extension would be worth about $34.9 million while the five-year max would have a starting cap hit of $46.5 million. That’s a big difference.
Not factoring in the possible extensions for OG Anunoby and Bojan Bogdanovic, The Knicks will have six players on payroll for the 2025-26 season–nearly $82 million below the onerous first apron and $94 million below the extra-onerous second apron.
Not all players would take less than market value in the team’s best interest; in fact, very few would. It appears that Brunson, represented by CAA, could be here too. Who knows whether or not Bogdanovic signs that extension, if Randle or Mitchell Robinson sign extensions or if other player movement matriculates for the Knicks’ roster in two years.
They were hard-capped by the Donte DiVincenzo signing (he took the majority of the MLE), and they still found a way to add Bogdanovic, Alec Burks and Anunoby at the deadline. This Knicks front office isn’t your everyday Knicks front office. Having current-and-future flexibility paired with hitting on homegrown talent will be ever-so-important in this new CBA.
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