Jalen Brunson Wants Knicks to ‘Do Right by Me’ With Next Extension

Jalen Brunson did right by the Knicks in 2024, when he signed a four-year, $156.5 million contract extension, a deal that gave New York flexibility to build a contender around the breakout star guard who signed with them two years prior and summarily emerged as one of the NBA’s top players.

And in a few years, when he’s ready to sign his next deal, he hopes the Knicks will do right by him in turn.

Brunson, 29, is in the first season of his four-year extension, but had money on the mind during an interview with Vanity Fair, which profiled the guard who helped transform New York from annual disappointment to a true playoff threat. He doesn’t sound regretful about signing his current deal rather than waiting a year to ink a potential five-year, $269 million contract, citing the potential for an injury to derail his value. The security of the contract has allowed Brunson to take care of his family and play with a “free mind,” he says.

Even so, the next extension talks are just a few years away, and next time he hopes that the franchise will remember the numbers that he punted on for the sake of the team in 2024.

“Obviously we’d love for them to do right by me,” Brunson said. “I think anyone would. I feel like I sacrificed.”

By 2028, Brunson will be a 10-year veteran, allowing him to sign the largest possible deal in the league—one projected to be worth in excess of $417 million over five years, more than $83 million per season.

Where Jalen Brunson’s contract ranks NBA’s highest-paid players

Brunson has been a transformative player for the Knicks, but at an average salary of just over $39 million, he is the 39th-highest paid player in the NBA and just the third on New York’s roster, behind Karl-Anthony Towns and OG Anunoby, per Spotrac. The final year of his current contract is a $43.3 million player option for the 2028–29 season.

Based on the profile, Brunson may not be as amenable to another team-friendly discount the next time around, making the next three seasons, including the rest of 2026, extremely important for the franchise to maximize its championship window.

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