Jalen Brunson reportedly 'really considering' signing team-friendly contract extension

Jalen Brunson reportedly 'really considering' signing team-friendly contract extension

Jalen Brunson is already on one of the most team-friendly contracts in the NBA, and he may opt to continue that way.

Brunson is entering the third year of a four-year, $106 million contract he signed in free agent in 2022.

He has since developed into an All-Star, All-NBA guard, and MVP candidate — a top 15 player that nobody saw coming.

Brunson is eligible for a contract extension this summer. An extension for Brunson would come in around four years, $156 million, a significant increase from his current deal, but far less than what he could make as a free agent. If Brunson opted out of his contract after the 2024-25 and re-signed with the Knicks, he could make around five years, $270 million.

Newsday's Steve Popper had previously reported that Brunson is "willing" to sign such an extension.

Now, The Athletic's Fred Katz reports on his podcast, "Katz and Shoot," that Brunson is "really considering" signing the deal."

"Everything that I have been told, everything that Popper had, was completely on the nose, that Jalen Brunson is really considering signing the extension and taking way less money," Katz said on the podcast.

Katz said that beyond Brunson's ability to lock in money now, the 27-year-old point guard may sign the extension because of the flexibility it could give the team down the road. The NBA's new collective bargaining agreement is much tougher on higher-spending teams and creates a system where every dollar matters.

"He understands all this cap stuff that we've been talking about and how restrictive these rules are and how tough it is being, approaching the second apron or well over the second apron," Katz said. "And he wants to help the Knicks get more cap flexibility ... When you've got your best player making way less than the max, it opens stuff up for you down the line."

Brunson is a small guard who is coming off a burdensome season in which he had to carry the Knicks' offense for long stretches. He might want the security of another long-term deal to lock in a big raise now.

One other option could be for Brunson to sign a three-year extension, which would take him to the summer of 2028. At that time, he would have been in the NBA for 10 years, which allows him to sign the biggest possible maximum contract. And he would do so in a rising cap environment, thanks to the NBA's impending new TV deal.

As Spotrac's Keith Smith had reported, if the salary cap grows as expected, by 2028-29, the starting salary of a max contract projects to be $72 million.

The Knicks can offer the extension on July 12. If they can lock in their All-NBA guard at another below-market rate, it would mark the offseason as a win for New York, regardless of what else happens.