Knicks star Jalen Brunson has agreed to a four-year, $156.5 million contract extension with the team, potentially forfeiting the maximum deal as a free agent next season.
The 27-year-old point guard’s new contract will begin in 2025-26, according to ESPNand 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 last season, signed a four-year, $104 million contract with New York in 2022.
He could have signed a five-year contract worth around $270 million with the team, or another franchise, if he had waited to be eligible for a five-year maximum contract with a projected value of $269 million.
Brunson’s contract extension comes as no surprise, however, given his ties and status with the team, as well as his popularity among the Knicks’ fan base.
Jalen Brunson has agreed to new terms with the Knicks and will play in New York through 2029-30
The 27-year-old point guard’s decision to extend his current contract comes as no surprise to fans.
Brunson’s father, Rick, is an assistant coach under Tom Thibodeau, while Knicks president Leon Rose is a longtime family friend.
Brunson also has three of his college friends — Mikal Bridges, Donte DiVicenzo and Josh Hart from Villanova, where they won an NCAA championship together — in the Knicks’ rotation.
Brunson’s decision to extend his playing days at Madison Square Garden will help the Knicks stay under the “second apron” of the salary cap in 2025-26, giving them more flexibility to pay the rest of their core players.
But Brunson is again eligible to sign a new maximum extension in 2028, his 10th year of service, that would recoup most of the $113 million he is giving up for now.
Brunson earned his first All-Star and second-team All-NBA nods last season in New York.
Hart, another Knicks point guard, appeared to comment on the news of Brunson’s extension when he wrote to X: “Build him a statue.”
Brunson is coming off the best season of his six-year NBA career, posting career-highs in scoring (28.7 points per game), assists (6.7 per game) and 3-pointers made (211). He made 40.1 percent of his shots from beyond the arc.
In addition to his first All-Star nod, Brunson was named to the All-NBA Second Team and finished fifth in 2023-24 NBA MVP voting.
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 three-point range.