A flabbergasted Paul Pierce was bewildered by Jalen Brunson‘s decision to take a significant paycut in his new deal with the New York Knicks.
Pierce, who won a championship with the Knicks’ division rival Boston Celtics in 2008, speculated that there is more than meets the eye.
“Maybe they’re giving them something under the table,” Pierce said on Fox Sports’ “Undisputed” on July 15. “Maybe you get free food or drink wherever you go in New York. I mean, there’s got to be something.”
On July 12, Brunson agreed to a four-year, $156.5 million contract extension, $113 million less guaranteed than he could sign for if he waited another year, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Brunson’s team-friendly deal will allow the Knicks to have the flexibility to retain their current core or build out a championship-contending team while the star point guard is in his prime.
According to salary cap expert Yossi Gozlan, Brunson’s annual salary will just be 20% of the Knicks’ salary cap.
“A max-level player earning ~20% of the cap will do wonders for team building. This gives them a much stronger chance at keeping their top 8 players over the next 3 seasons,” Gozlan wrote on X on July 12.
Did Jalen Brunson Really Leave $113 Million on the Table?
“I get it. You want to win a championship, but they don’t guarantee you a championship. They gonna love you in New York,” Pierce said. “$113 million pay cut. That’s money you’re not gonna get back.
I don’t think I’ve ever, in my history of knowing the league and knowing the numbers, I’ve seen somebody take this type of discount. You know, it’s not about the number — $113 million because obviously, the contracts are a lot bigger — but the percentage of what he could have got based on what he got. I’ve never seen that disparity.”
But Brunson is not leaving $113 million entirely on the table.
Brunson’s agent Sam Rose, son of Knicks president Leon Rose, explained to Wojnarowski they made a calculated risk.
“The deal, which begins in 2025-26 and will cost Brunson $37.1 million over the next three years, comes with a fourth-year player option, Rose said, and that would set up Brunson to recoup the $113 million on a four-year, $323 million maximum extension in 2028 or a new five-year, $418 million deal in 2029,” Wojnarowski wrote.
Jalen Brunson’s Paycut is Largest in NBA History
Even if Brunson can recoup some of the money he left on the table this year down the road, it still represents the largest paycut in NBA history, according to Wojnarowski.
“In the modern era, All-NBA player discounts to allow salary cap flexibility have included San Antonio‘s Tim Duncan taking $11 million less than the maximum in 2007 to keep Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker and Golden State‘s Kevin Durant taking $10 million less to keep Shaun Livingston and Andre Iguodala in 2017. LeBron James accepted $2.6 million less on a two-year, $101 million deal this offseason to avoid the second apron for the Los Angeles Lakers.
This time, Brunson is taking a $37 million loss that comes with $113 million of total risk to chase a title with the Knicks,” Wojnarowski wrote.
The Knicks have not won a championship since 1973.
Brunson’s sacrifice eased the Knicks’ financial burden in the face of the new, restrictive Collective Bargaining Agreement, following the re-signing of OG Anunoby to a five-year, $212.5 million deal and the acquisition of Mikal Bridges via a blockbuster trade with the Brooklyn Nets.
The Knicks now can duck the punitive second apron over the next two to three years.
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