Jalen Brunson, the New York Knicks guard, sat down with the Wall Street Journal for an interview where he spoke about the famous contract he is currently on (where he left approximately $113 million on the table), ahead of being eligible for another extension.
“Everyone looks at it as leaving money on the table. And to a certain degree, it is, the most I could sign for at the time was like $156 million. If I had waited a year, it would’ve been about $100 million more… But the average NBA career is about four years. Having that uncertainty of betting on yourself, you don’t really know.”
“So just having that in my back pocket, knowing I’m good, my family’s good, I can just play free. I don’t have to worry about anything,” Brunson added. “It definitely had to do with my decision.”
“But no matter what, my lifestyle wouldn’t change. Like, it wasn’t like I bought a bunch of things. Everything that I, even to this day I know it’s crazy. Like, if I feel like I’m making a big purchase, I’m going to call my parents. I’m going to call, like, ‘What do you think about this?’ And they’re like, ‘you’re a grown-a– man. You can do what you want.”
“I’m like, ‘Yeah, but I just want to make sure I’m doing the right [thing]. I still, like, give myself like those checks to make sure I’m doing everything right [thing], because it’s just it’s important for me to have this [wealth] for obviously as long as I can and for my future generations,” Brunson concluded.
Jalen Brunson, who picked a four-year, $156 million extension in 2024 over waiting for a five-year, $269 million deal, currently has three years potentially left on his contract (two years guaranteed, player option in 2028-29). He will be eligible to discuss an extension next summer.
In the summer of 2028, when he would be deciding on his player option, he is also projected to be eligible for a five-year, $417.8 million supermax extension for having completed 10 years in the league at the time. On average, he could earn a little over $83 million per year on that deal.
The Knicks guard is reasonably anticipating that the team must compensate for his initial sacrifice. Initially, there were concerns that a small guard at age 32 would not be the perfect fit for such a massive extension from the Knicks’ business perspective.
But Brunson proved the critics wrong by leading his team to a championship and winning the Finals MVP. And while recency bias compels the Knicks’ owners to meet his demands, they could change their mind over the next two years, which could determine whether or not he reaches the full extent of his earning capacity.
Considering the brutal roster decisions the Knicks may have to take due to the second apron, it will certainly be fascinating to see how they navigate his contract extension negotiations when the time comes.
