There are team-friendly NBA contracts, and then there is what star Knicks guard Jalen Brunson did in the summer of 2024, when he signed a four-year extension worth $113 million less than what he would have been eligible to sign had he waited just one more year to negotiate.
In total, the extension was worth $156.5 million, which isn't anything to scoff at, certainly. But when you consider that the Villanova export could have been getting paid on a $269 million deal now—and that for athletes, contracts are all about maximizing the present in the event of devastating injury or an unfortunate decline—it was quite the haul to leave on the table.
