Days after his resurfaced comments from two years ago about Jalen Brunson leaving $113 million on the table during his 2024 contract extension, Draymond Green got into it with Brunson’s teammate, Josh Hart.
Subsequently, he has doubled down on why he still thinks the Knicks superstar’s sacrifice was a mistake, despite New York being the 2026 NBA champions. The Warriors’ veteran appeared on his own podcast, ‘The Draymond Green Show,’ where he expressed his feelings on the incident.
“When I said Jalen Brunson shouldn’t do that, maybe Josh Hart should, but not Jalen Brunson, I stand by that. The reason I stand by that is that I’m happy as hell Landry Shamet got paid.”
“But Landry Shamet took less than Landry Shamet could make, and if he wanted to stay on that team, he was going to have to take less. No knock on Landry Shamet. That’s just how the books are set up,” Green said.
“You see reports that Karl-Anthony Towns is going to have to take less if he wants to stay with the Knicks. They can largely throw that around because Jalen Brunson took a pay cut, so they can say that to the next guy.”
“Mikal Bridges, if I’m not mistaken, left over $20 million or $30 million on the table because Jalen Brunson took a pay cut. So when I made my statement, that’s what I’m saying. And you see the trickle-down effect of it.”
“So responding to a two-year-old comment, that comment actually aged gracefully because, look, everybody’s taking less. Everybody. No knock to Jalen Brunson. Those were just my thoughts then. They actually happen to still be my thoughts,” Green added.
To be precise, Mikal Bridges left only $6 million on the table, as he signed a $150 million extension when he was eligible for $156 million. However, Karl-Anthony Towns, who is eligible for an extension, has also declared his intentions that if the need arises, he would take a $100 million pay cut as well to stay in New York.
Moreover, Landry Shamet reportedly had bigger offers from other teams. But he apparently sacrificed them to sign a four-year, $24 million deal with the Knicks. And while this is good for the loyalty behind the business, it’s not great news for the pockets of players.
Green correctly points out that Brunson’s sacrifice may have created the precedent that the Knicks’ front office now uses to lowball players with offers instead of paying them what they deserve.
In my opinion, Green’s comments are unnecessarily being taken with a grain of salt when he’s highlighting a potentially serious concern for players. Do you think Jalen Brunson made a mistake by creating that precedent? Let us know what you think in the comments section.
