The New York Knicks are still on top of the world. And if they’re on top of the world, Jalen Brunson is on another planet. He’s the King of New York right now, not just because of his play in the NBA Playoffs, but also because he took a pay cut to help the Knicks. Unfortunately, New York is going to have to pay him in the next couple of years, and Donovan Mitchell showed them a painful blueprint.
Mitchell just inked a massive contract extension with the Cavs. One that, at least partially, was met with some criticism. By the time the Knicks have to pay Brunson, he’s going to be 32 years old and entering the latter years of his career. That’s going to be a very dangerous contract for the Knicks to take on.
He’s Brunson. He just won them a championship, and he took a pay cut. He has two years (including a player option) left on his current contract. The Knicks are going to pay him. But it could hurt their ability to build in the future.
Knicks are going to have to pay Jalen Brunson a ton of money
Cleveland is in a pretty rough spot. The Mitchell contract doesn’t seem like the type of deal that will age well, especially considering the Cavs are already about to be dealing with the second apron.
Evan Mobley is on a monster contract. James Harden is going to get paid (regardless of whether the Cavs end up getting LeBron James). Jarrett Allen and Max Strus make decent money, too.
And now, the Cavaliers are going to be paying Mitchell around $75 million by the time the final year of his contract rolls around. It’s almost inevitable that they will have to sell off some pieces.
Based on the way his contract is playing out, if the Knicks give Brunson the max on his next deal (which seems pretty likely), he could be making around $65 million in the first year of his next extension.
New York already owes a lot of money to a lot of players. By that point, Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby, and Josh Hart will all need new contracts. Mikal Bridges might, too, if he declines his player option.
The Knicks are going to quickly learn the tough spot the Cavs have been put in. Cleveland will likely have to start breaking apart its roster soon because it had to pay its best player.
That’s what the Knicks are going to have to do with Brunson. Once they pay him, the rest of the roster could begin to get torn to pieces. The Knicks will have to make some tough decisions.
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