Jalen Brunson has already sacrificed more than anyone could have asked him to during his New York Knicks career. When he took a pay cut on his first massive extension, it gave the Knicks the flexibility to keep the rest of their team around him. But now, as the years inch closer to his next deal, is there a chance he takes another one?
In reality, the answer is probably no. He’s already given up a ton of money, and the Knicks have already won a championship. Now, it’s time for Brunson to get paid. He can have the best of both worlds, earning a ton of money and remaining competitive. However, perhaps there’s a chance – albeit a very small one – that Brunson helps out the Knicks again.
Because if he does, it could give them even more years of competing atop the NBA, trying to win even more championships together.
Could Jalen Brunson take another pay cut?
The Knicks have one of the most expensive rosters in basketball. And a lot of their expenses are at the top of the roster. Their top guys make a ton of money, and that’s tough to deal with in today’s NBA.
Brunson makes a lot of money. Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges, and Josh Hart do, too. Because of that, the Knicks have had to get creative when it comes to the rest of their team.
Even this summer, their expenses caught up to them. Because of the second apron, they were basically forced to allow Mitchell Robinson to walk in free agency. He joined the Boston Celtics.
New York is going to have to make even more decisions like that in the coming years. And once they have to worry about Brunson’s next extension, things will get tougher.
Brunson has three more years on his current deal, with a player option in his final year. By then, the Knicks will have to figure out exactly what type of contract they are going to hand Brunson.
What if Brunson took a bit less money than he possibly could? Even taking a small pay cut around $10 million or so could help the Knicks maintain some valuable flexibility.
Brunson already did it once. No one will expect him to do it again. But he very well could. It should be one of his teammates’ turn, but Brunson could do it again if he wanted.
The Knicks will almost certainly just pay Brunson whatever he wants, but maybe, just maybe, there’s a world in which he could help the team out again.
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