Knicks accused of shadiness around Jalen Brunson’s discounted contract

New York Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson has recently signed a four-year $156.6 million contract instead of waiting a year to sign a five-year $269 million contract extension. In Brunson's new contract, he'll be averaging around $39 million per year versus $54 million per year he could be making if he waited a year.

Brunson has said in the past that money has not mattered to him. Before he hit free agency after the 2021-22 season, Brunson was willing to sign a four-year $55. million extension to stay with the Dallas Mavericks. The thing is, Dallas never made the offer. That opened the door for Brunson to sign a four-year, $104 million contract with the Knicks.

Now that he has found a home in New York, the star point guard has taken the biggest cut in modern NBA history. His intent was to help the Knicks stay under the second apron of the salary cap and sign more talent in the offseason to help the team contend for an NBA Championship.

Knicks fans love it but, as Ross Pins on X (or Twitter) relayed a point made by Pablo Torre on "Pardon the Interruption." Jalen Brunson's agent Sam Rose, is the son of Knicks general manager Leon Rose.

How fishy is Jalen Brunson's extension?

Leon Rose was an agent at CAA that his son currently has a role as now. Multiple Knick players like Brunson, OG Anunoby, and Julius Randle have agents that work for the CAA. Did Sam's relationship with Leon play a factor in Brunson and Anunoby taking less money? Anunoby is currently signed to a five-year, $212.5 million contract.

Even though it plays a factor doesn't mean it's fishy. As KnicksMuse pointed out, agents get a cut of the player's contract, so Sam is missing out on millions of dollars in both Brunson's and Anunoby's new contracts.

The main reason is Brunson took less because he wanted to follow the path of Patrick Mahomes and Tom Brady to get more pieces to win. Both of those players took pay cuts and restructured their contracts to fit top players under the salary cap to help their team win championships.

While Brunson took less, he does have the chance to cash-in down the road. According to ESPN senior NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski, Brunson could either sign a four-year, $323 million extension in 2028 or a five-year, $418 million deal in 2029.

With Brunson, he gets to play with multiple college teammates from Villanova, Randle, and Anunoby. On paper, the Knicks have one of the best rosters in the Eastern Conference. Brunson is making sure that he can help New York win their first NBA Championship since 1973.