Unselfish Act: Jalen Brunson Leaves over $100M on Table
We all know what a great scorer and on-court leader Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson is. Now, his unselfish act of a four-year contract extension that saw him leave at least $100 million on the table, makes him looks like the team’s Most Valuable Player for next season already.
Brunson made the ultimate sacrifice for a professional athlete putting desire for his team to win ahead of desire to squeeze out every last penny from team owners in a new contract.
“The repercussions of Brunson choosing the four-year, $156.5 million max deal over the five-year, $269.1 million deal in 2025 are massive for the Knicks’ ability to keep this team together and continue making roster moves to close the gap on a championship,” ESPN.com points out. “Brunson’s deal keeps the Knicks out of the second-apron level of the salary cap, a punitive threshold that severely limits a team’s ability to make trades, sign players and use draft picks.”
Brunson made this unusual move because he wants to help the Knicks win–right now. The Knicks surpassed most expectations by making it to the Eastern Conference semi-finals, losing to the Indiana Pacers after suffering injuries to such key players as high-scoring all-star forward Julius Randle.
The Knicks needed some good off-season news like this. The team’s center, Isaiah Hartenstein, who impressed fans and coaches with his hard-nosed play in the second half of the season, chose to depart the Knicks for more money with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Knicks will replace Hartenstein, but his exit means general manager Leon Rose has one more problem to solve in the off-season.
Everything the Knicks will do before the season begins on October has one intent: Enable the team to beat the Boston Celtics, who are the newly crowned NBA champions, in next year’s playoffs.
Boston’s formidable one-two combination of Jayson Tatum and NBA Finals MVP Jaylen Brown present immediate match-up problems for opponents and enable role players to step up and get easy shots.
Do the Knicks have an answer to the Batman and Robin dynamic duo of Brown and Tatum?
Brunson, who turns 28 next month, is in his prime and he remains the key factor for the Knicks’ championship dreams. Brunson averaged 28.7 points per game last season, on 47.9 percent shooting, along with 6.7 assists. He is a certified all-star and arguably one of the top five players in the league.
But Brunson and the Knicks are now at a crossroads.
The team has come so far so fast–well ahead of predictions–that the fans now have expectations.
It’s like when you meet someone and begin to enjoy their company. Then, you start to fall in love and any pretense of objectivity or logic goes right out the window. Love changes everything!
Knick fans have a love affair going on with this enormously likeable team. The diehards love the players’ grit, unselfishness and never-say-die attitude. The fans are beginning to feel entitled, as if they deserve to have a championship trophy housed in Madison Square Garden.
Of course, this is fanciful thinking. The Denver Nuggets, the Philadelphia 76ers, the Dallas Mavericks–and, of course, the Celtics – feel the same way. The Knicks will have to earn the championship. Destiny is a tantalizing concept. But no team wins a title off the court.
The Milwaukee Bucks won the NBA championship in the spring of 2021. The Bucks were promptly hailed as a team of the future–but they have suffered injuries and haven’t come close since.
The Knicks’ best bet is to gain the home-court advantage next season. The Knicks can no longer sneak up on their opponents and pleasantly surprise their fans by exceeding expectations.
Some oddsmakers have established the Knicks as 8-1 favorites to win the 2024-25 championship. This is a mixed blessing. It should give the players, coaches and fans confidence to recognize that the Knicks are getting closer to winning it all.
At the same time, the Garden faithful will expect to see the Knicks stomp their opponents nightly–which is unrealistic, of course.
Jalen Brunson is an admirable player. He has managed to establish himself as one of the league’s top scorers–and yet build a reputation as a team player, not a ball hog. His teammates revere him.
Brunson has proven to be as unselfish off the court as on it. If his teammates play as well as he does, the Knicks will give their fans reasons to believe.