There are a few ways to ensure you never have to pay for a meal in New York for the rest of your life.
- win a championship
- hall of fame career
- embrace the culture and fans
New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson hopes to check of the first two on that checklist, but with his play on the court combined with his willingness to engulf himself into NYC culture and plant his roots here, he won’t ever have to pay for a meal here ever again.
Just days after sitting court side to take in NY vs NY’s West 4th vs Lincoln Park game, the Knicks guard inked a four-year, $156.5 million contract extension — $113 million less guaranteed than he is eligible to sign for a year from now.
The city already loved Brunson for taking the challenge of being the face of the franchise and reviving the franchise. But now signing on for 4 more years, at a discount to ensure financial flexibility going forward, the fan fare has skyrocketed.
The All-Star point guard has mulled over the possibility of taking the extension for months, though the Knicks were not allowed to offer it to him until July 12, exactly two years after he signed his current deal with the team. But even if Brunson hadn’t technically seen the agreement, he knew what was coming. His soon-to-be new contract is the largest allowable extension the Knicks could propose.
Though New York offered the most it could in an extension, re-signing now was not the most lucrative path Brunson could have taken.
While there is an inherent risk of injury and unforeseen complications that come with Brunson’s decision to push back his most lucrative NBA paydays, his priority remains to maximize the prime of his career with the franchise’s most talented and deepest roster since the 1990s.
The repercussions of Brunson choosing the four-year, $156.5 million max deal over the five-year, $269.1 million deal in 2025 are massive for the Knicks’ ability to keep this team together and continue making roster moves to close the gap on a championship. Brunson’s deal keeps the Knicks out of the second-apron level of the salary cap, a punitive threshold that severely limits a team’s ability to make trades, sign players and use draft picks.
Brunson’s study of championship organizations and franchise stars — Patrick Mahomes’ Kansas City Chiefs, the Tom Brady New England Patriots and the Derek Jeter New York Yankees — gave him a blueprint for MVP-level players who structured contracts to give their teams the best chances at sustainable title runs.
Brunson’s arrival to the Knicks on a four-year, $104 million free agent deal two years ago has been one of the league’s most transformative acquisitions of the past decade. After starting his career as a backup point guard with the Dallas Mavericks, Brunson has blossomed into one of the NBA’s most impactful players and leaders.
Brunson had his finest NBA season in 2023-24, earning All-NBA honors and finishing top five in the MVP voting. He averaged 28.7 points per game and scored or assisted on a franchise-record 3,481 points. Brunson, who had 11 40-point games in the regular season, became the first Knicks player with 40 points and five assists in four straight playoff games.
Brunson’s ties to the Knicks are deep and reflect his faith in the organization. Knicks president of basketball operations Leon Rose had been Brunson’s agent prior to joining the team in 2020. Brunson’s father, Rick, is a Knicks assistant coach and was a longtime client of Rose’s in his agent days. The Knicks have surrounded Brunson with a starry cast of his former national championship teammates at Villanova to create a remarkable synchronicity on and off the floor.
In the modern era, All-NBA player discounts to allow salary cap flexibility have included San Antonio’s Tim Duncan taking $11 million less than the maximum in 2007 to keep Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker and Golden State’s Kevin Durant taking $10 million less to keep Shaun Livingston and Andre Iguodala in 2017. LeBron James accepted $2.6 million less on a two-year, $101 million deal this offseason to avoid the second apron for the Los Angeles Lakers.
This time, Brunson is taking a $37 million loss that comes with $113 million of total risk to chase a title with the Knicks.
