Jalen Brunson is sticking around with the New York Knicks long-term, and he's doing it for all the right reasons that will give the franchise flexibility moving to boot.
While he doesn't wear the captain's "C" on his upper left shoulder, Brunson unselfishly signed a four-year $156 million extension to stay with New York, opting not to go free agent next summer. Had Brunson played under his current deal, he would have been eligible to make a max deal of $270 million. Essentially, he left $113 million on the table in order to win with the Knicks.
What a move!
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| Jalen Brunson - Getty Images. |
Moreover the deal allows the Knicks to have flexibility to make other deals in the near future to help the team get over the hump and to the NBA Finals.
Per ESPN: "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."
After a stellar 2023-24 campaign that saw the Knicks rise from the ashes of mediocrity, the Knicks are in it to win it in 2024-25 and beyond.
And why not?
They have a stable core led by Brunson and his Villanova teammates, Josh Hart and Donte DiVencenzo. The team also re-singed OG Anunoby to a five year, $125 million deal, and brought in another piece of those Villanova championship teams when they acquired Mikal Bridges in a blockbuster deal with the Brooklyn Nets.
If this works out, and the Knicks do return to the Finals with this group, and with Brunson leading the way, he will put himself into the pantheon of New York athletes that will be forever revered. Think Derek Jeter in this instance.
Good on the Knicks, and good on Brunson for getting it done.
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