Word just broke that Austin Reaves intends to sign a new extension with Los Angeles. While such news is certainly worthy of celebration among Lakers fans, considering the reported details, it's also yet another example of why the New York Knicks have the best bargain in the association in Jalen Brunson.
According to NBA insider Shams Charania, Reave's new deal is slated to ring in with a value of four-years, $185 million, an average salary of $46.25 million.
Someone like Reaves certainly deserves all the money he can possibly get. After all, he's coming off a career-best campaign where he dropped 23.3 points, 5.5 assists, and 4.7 rebounds per night on 49.0 percent shooting from the floor and 36.0 percent shooting from deep while serving as a top-three option on the 53-win Lakers.
However, while such a statement is still inarguable, the fact that a non-All-Star/ All-NBA player will be making roughly $7 million more annually and nearly $30 million more in total than Brunson is netting on his current deal is truly astounding.
Knicks once again proven to have best bargain contract in Jalen Brunson
Now, at this point, all Knicks fans should already understand the reason behind why there's such a stark contrast in paydays between these two guards.
Brunson purposely took a $113 million pay cut when signing his own extension back in the summer of 2024 with the intention of helping Leon Rose and company build a contending roster around him with the money he forfited.
With this, instead of taking the five-year, $269 million maximum he was eligible for, he opted to agree to terms on a four-year, $156.6 million deal instead.
What ultimately came as a direct result was the Knicks re-signing of OG Anunoby and taking on the high-end deals Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns via summer blockbuster.
With the Larry O'Brien Trophy now in their possession, it goes without saying that the mission sparked by this admirable decision has officially been accomplished.
During the two seasons since, Brunson personally has posted ridiculous averages of 26.0 points, 7.0 assists, and 3.1 rebounds on 47.6 percent shooting from the floor and 37.5 percent shooting from deep while netting himself two All-Star and All-NBA nods as well as a Finals MVP along the way.
Not only is he worthy of being considered the greatest bargain in the league today, but when taking into account what his actions have done for the organization, there's a growing case being made that he may have officially solidified himself as the greatest player in Knicks history.
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