How Much Money Did Jalen Brunson Give Up on Knicks Contract? NBA Insider Responds to Carmelo Anthony

The New York Post's Stefan Bondy pushed back against a resurfaced clip of Carmelo Anthony saying in 2024 that Jalen Brunson left $113 million on the table when re-signing with the New York Knicks.

"That number always included an extra two years that Brunson will make up on his next contract," Bondy wrote Saturday on social media.

He added the "real number" Brunson gave up was $37 million.

Bondy was responding to a recently reshared clip of Anthony discussing Brunson's contract in a 2024 episode of Podcast P with Paul George.

Anthony was at the time citing a report from former ESPN reporter Adrian Wojnarowski detailing Brunson's four-year, $156.5 million deal with the Knicks.

Wojnarowski noted that amount was "$113 million less guaranteed than [Brunson] is eligible to sign for a year from now."

Brunson would have been able for a five-year, $269 million deal had he signed with the Knicks in 2025, per Spotrac's Keith Smith.

Considering the difference between those two deals necessitates consideration of the fact that Brunson holds a player option for 2028-29.

Assuming he opts out of that fourth year, Brunson will make about $113 million on the first three years of his current extension, per Smith.

He would have made about $150 million over a three-year span had he waited a year for another contract, Smith noted. That comes out to a difference of about $37 million over three seasons.

Brunson could recoup that lost money on his next contract as he looks to cash in on the Knicks' 2026 title run.

He will be eligible for a four-year, $257 million deal should he sign in 2027 and a five-year, $417 million contract if he waits until 2028, per Stefan Bondy of the New York Post.