The player that has led the Knicks back to historic heights this season is Jalen Brunson, and good news is starting to spread around claiming he’s willing to extend his stay in New York for years to come. According to several reports, the All-Star would be “open” to negotiating a potential contract extension with the club once this campaign has come to an end.
One of the first to the scene was insider Steve Popper of Newsday, who shined a light on these rumors during a Thursday appearance on The Putback with Ian Begley. “I’ve heard whispers that Jalen Brunson would be open to discussions to do [an extension] this summer,” he said on air.
The point guard still has two more seasons left on his four-year deal worth $104 million, which also includes a $24.96 million player option for the 2025/26 campaign. However, the Manhattan franchise would like to secure their star athlete for years to come, as he’s only exceeded expectations since he landed there, averaging 25.9 points in his Knicks career.
Report: Jalen Brunson would be open to extension with Knicks this summer https://t.co/5zLulhCsVK
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) April 4, 2024
The player, who just made his first All-Star appearance last February, is enjoying a scoring average of 27.8 points per contest, ranking 4th among all players in the NBA this year. Jalen recently played his 66th match of the campaign, and has cleared the minimum to be taken into consideration for end-of-the-year acknowledgments.
When asked about winning accolades, he gave a straight answer. “Definitely, when you’re available you should be able to play. It’s always been my mindset. I haven’t really thought any other way,” he revealed last week.
“Obviously we’ve been banged up a lot so our availability has been limited. I think most guys on this team, if not all, have the mindset that if they’re good to go, they’re going to go as hard as they can and play,” he said about the Knicks’ attitude, as they’ve suffered many injuries this competition.
When asked if he’s been working hard to earn his first All-NBA consideration, Jalen was rather shy about his objectives. “My list of goals is private. I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it,” said Brunson, who is also 14th in assists with 6.4 per game.
The first-time All-Star guard has been averaging career highs in points, assists, and minutes per contest
“He’s special,” teammate Donte DiVincenzo said about Jalen. “I think he’s an All-NBA talent. Even if we didn’t come away with the win tonight, I think what he did tonight showed you that he’s one of the best guards in the East. Every single night, whatever it takes to win, he does that. Tonight, it was almost.”
Jalen Brunson recently dropped a career-high 61 points in the Knicks’ 130-126 overtime loss to the San Antonio Spurs last Friday night, and his total fell one point shy of matching Carmelo Anthony’s franchise record of 62 points on January 24, 2014.
“We give them confidence and they were just rolling from the beginning,” Brunson shared. “I think we played well the rest of the game. We fought. They went on runs; we went on runs. We just kept on fighting, but at the beginning of the game just didn’t do good.”
Not too long ago, the 27-year-old also joined Kobe Bryant as the only NBA athletes in NBA history to record at least 20 two-pointers and 5 three-pointers in a single match.
