Jalen Brunson has already done the Knicks a major favor once, and there’s at least a sliver of a chance he could do it again.
When he accepted a pay cut on his first huge extension, it gave New York the room to keep the rest of the roster together. That decision helped set the Knicks up to stay competitive, and it remains one of the biggest team-friendly moves of Brunson’s New York run. Now the question is whether he’d ever consider something similar as his next deal gets closer.
The honest answer is probably no. Brunson has already given up a lot of money, and after all that, it’s his turn to cash in.
He can still land a massive payday and stay on a winning team. That’s the ideal setup.
But if he did decide to trim a little off the top again, it could give the Knicks even more room to keep this group together and keep chasing championships.
That matters because New York’s books are already loaded. Brunson is paid handsomely, and so are Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges, and Josh Hart. With so much money tied up at the top, the Knicks have had to be smart everywhere else.
This summer, that financial squeeze hit hard. The second apron essentially forced New York to let Mitchell Robinson leave in free agency, and he ended up with the Boston Celtics.
More tough calls are coming, too. Brunson has three years left on his current deal, with a player option in the final season, and by the time the Knicks get to his next extension, they’ll have another major financial decision on their hands.
If Brunson were to take even about $10 million less than he could command, it would give New York some much-needed flexibility. It’s not something anyone expects after the last time he helped out. But it’s not impossible, either.
For now, the Knicks will almost certainly pay Brunson whatever it takes. Still, there’s a small world where he helps them one more time.
In Other News...
Knicks Title Buzz Cant Hide A Long-Term Roster Problem
The Knicks can enjoy the title buzz that has followed them, but the longer view keeps circling back to the same problem: a roster built to win now is not especially friendly to staying elite later. The Second Apron makes it harder to keep adding around the edges, and the front office is staring at a future in which the cost of retaining the core starts to climb while the teams supply of young, low-cost contributors remains thin.
That matters because New York does not have much margin for error if it wants to remain a contender beyond the next couple of seasons. The safest path is usually a pipeline of younger players who can absorb minutes, develop, and eventually fill bigger roles without crushing the cap sheet, and the Knicks have not really lived in that space. If they want this era to last, they may need to make a stronger commitment to those players now, even if it means sacrificing some short-term comfort. [Read more 🡒]
Knicks Champion Trey Jemison Had Another Huge Celebration This Summer
After helping the Knicks capture their first NBA championship since 1973 during the 2026 season, Trey Jemison had another reason to celebrate this summer. The New York big man and his wife, sports broadcaster Alex Jean Glover, marked their marriage with a Western-themed wedding reception in Tennessee on Aug. 21, a fittingly festive cap to a year that already changed both his professional and personal life.
The reception carried extra meaning because the couple had kept part of their love story under wraps before inviting family and friends to share in the celebration. By the time they gathered in Tennessee, the marriage was already official, and the night became less about introductions than about finally bringing everyone into the story. For a Knicks player fresh off a title run, it was another memorable chapter in a summer that did not exactly slow down. [Read more 🡒]
Knicks May Regret A Cost-Cutting Move At The Worst Position
The Knicks have spent plenty of time trying to thread the needle financially, but this is the kind of move that can come back into focus once roster needs start stacking up. Earlier this year, New York traded out of a first-round slot and slid back into the second round, a move clearly aimed at trimming the cost of another rookie-scale deal while keeping the front office flexible for the future.
What makes the decision harder to ignore now is the profile of the player who went off the board in that spot. Cameron Carr looks like the sort of wing this roster can always use, a promising 3-and-D type with the physical tools to matter on both ends. With key players heading toward free agency, a cost-cutting call at one of the games most valuable positions may be the kind of small move the Knicks end up measuring against a much bigger need. [Read more 🡒]