Jalen Brunson agrees to $156.5million four-year extension with the Knicks despite being eligible for an extra $113million in 2025
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Knicks star Jalen Brunson has agreed to a four-year, $156.5million contract extension with the team, potentially missing out on max deal as a free agent next season.
The 27-year-old point guard's new deal will begin in 2025-26, according to ESPN, and includes a player option after the third season, when Brunson will be 31.
Brunson, who was named an All-Star for the first time in his career this past season, signed a four-year, $104M contract with New York back in 2022.
He could have inked a five-year deal worth about $270M with the team, or another franchise, had he waited to be eligible for a five-year, max contract projected to be worth $269M.
Brunson's extension doesn't come off as a surprise, however, given both his ties and status on the team, as well as his popularity among the Knicks fan base.
Jalen Brunson has agreed to fresh terms with the Knicks, playing in New York until 2029-30
The 27-year-old point guard's decision to extend his current deal comes as no surprise to fans
Brunson's father, Rick, is an assistant on Tom Thibodeau's coaching staff, while Leon Rose - president of the Knicks - is a longtime family friend.
Brunson also three of his college buddies - Mikal Bridges, Donte DiVicenzo, and Josh Hart - from Villanova, where they won a NCAA Championship together, in the Knicks' rotation.
Brunson's decision to extend his playing days at Madison Square Garden will help the Knicks stay below the salary cap's 'second apron' in 2025-26, giving them more flexibility to pay the rest of their core players.
But Brunson is again eligible to sign a new max extension in 2028, his 10th year of service, that would recoup most of the $113M he is giving up for now.
Brunson earned his first All Star and All-NBA second team nominations this past season in NY
Hart, another guard on the Knicks, appeared to comment on the news of Brunson's extension when he posted to X, 'Build him a statue.'
Brunson is coming off the best season of his six-year NBA career, featuring career highs in scoring (28.7 points per game), assists (6.7 per game) and 3-pointers made (211). He shot 40.1 percent from beyond the arc.
What's more is that on top of his first All-Star nomination, Brunson made the All-NBA second team and finished fifth in NBA Most Valuable Player balloting in 2023-24.
In six seasons with the Dallas Mavericks (2018-22) and Knicks, Brunson has averaged 16.9 points, 4.7 assists and 3.2 rebounds per game and shot 48.9 percent from the field, including 39.1 percent from 3-point range.
