“Build him a statue” – Stephen A. reacts to Jalen Brunson takes a pay cut to stay in Knicks

“Build him a statue” – Stephen A. reacts to Jalen Brunson takes a pay cut to stay in Knicks

We are following breaking news in the NBA the New York Knicks and Allstar Jaylen Brunson have agreed to a team-friendly 4year $16.5 million extension according to ESPN now the deal is an unprecedented one designed to give the team Financial flexibility it’s worth $113 million less than what Brunson is eligible for next year now he could recoup that money with a 4-year deal worth over 300 million later in 2018 or a 5year $418 million contract in 2029 but one thing is for sure Brunson has earned it you’re looking at the most games with 40 or more points in a season Jaylen Brunson had 11 and look at the company he keeps there uh a couple of Knicks Legends he was also very effective in the end of the regular season the most points in the final 10 games of the Season he had 378 so when you’re next to Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant you’re certainly doing something right we will have more continuing to follow the breaking news from the NBA with the New York Knicks and Allstar Jaylen Brunson agreeing to a team-friendly four-year deal worth $16.5 million according to ESPN it is an unprecedented deal designed to give the team a little Financial flexibility it’s worth $113 million less than what Brunson is eligible for next year now he could recoup that money with some future deals that we’ll talk about in a moment but uh certainly a big talking point for the New York Knicks as they are keeping Jaylen Brunson for a little bit longer let’s bring in our CBS Sports basketball writer and analyst Brad botkin who just wrote the article about the Brunson extension on cbssports.com Brad I’ll give you the floor here your reaction to this unprecedented deal oh man this is what all of us that don’t make this kind of money are always calling for right why don’t these guys take less you know they have enough money anyway so that their friends can play together they can keep the team together and lo and behold Jaylen Brunson actually does it 113 million reportedly left on the table of what he could have signed for in terms of his max 5year extension 269 million that was the most he was eligible for right now uh takes a considerable less amount of money uh to keep this team together which is going to get super expensive in the coming years we know that OG anobi who sort of forced the Knicks hand because they traded for him at the deadline you can’t let him walk for nothing he’s probably not a max player but he gets well over a $200 million deal Mel Bridges is on a really team-friendly contract right now and that’s how they were able to get that trade done but he’s going to be up for an extension he’ll be near a max player Josh har Devan chenzo all these guys and so the Brunson extension was hanging over the Nick’s ability to do all of that while kind of trying to stay cognizant of the second apron and the ways that that inhibits your way to build your roster out so what a selfless move you know we can talk about how he’s eligible to quote unquote recoup some of this money in his next extension he could get well over 300 million in 2028 or even over 400 million in 2029 but that’s half a decade away uh a lot can happen between now and then so make no mistake about it Jaylen Brunson has left a lot of money on the table that he is not guaranteed to recoup it’s so funny we just came up I got the push alert for your story over on cbssports.com so make sure you’re at home are locking in there as well uh Brad when it comes to this sort of unprecedented deal it it sounds like he took a discount for the Knicks to be successful now kind of feels like the Knicks are going all in with the moves you just talked about OG anobi adding Mel Bridges we’ve seen this in the past Tim Duncan took a pay cut in 20 or excuse me in 2007 KD did it in 2017 and technically LeBron James took a little bit of a pay cut as well earlier this off season how confident are you I guess that the Knicks are going all in to make a championship a reality now rather than just in the future okay one we need to we need to Define pay cut because those guys you mentioned unless my numbers are wrong never took a pay cut like this so let’s get LeBron out of this definely not a couple Mill to get under the second apron no um but I’ll tell you what what this says to me as at the Knicks yes we can say they went all in but to me and this is what I love about them trading for Mel Bridges and signing oan anobi and the youth and the clarity of this team uh is that they are doing this for the next half decade this is not a team that has been microwave together like the Phoenix Suns that has to go out and justify all of this money and trade and draft Equity that was given up in order to put the team together and win right away it doesn’t have to do that this is a team that still doesn’t feel like a favorite to win they have put this team together with cohesion in mind with longevity the way that we’ve seen the Celtics come of age together the way we saw the Denver Nuggets come of age together we are seeing increasingly in today’s NBA that this big three push together kind of fast forward project trying to trying to win on a on a shortened time frame is not working especially with the second apron coming into play so the Knicks have looked at that blueprint and said we want to put a team together that can contend next year but more importantly can contend for the next five years and for that to happen you have got to plan your salary structure ahead of time and that’s what Jaylen Brunson is getting ahead of all these guys are young all these guys are ready to stay together and have a cohesive unit that they can build and grow together on so I love the strategy here that it’s yeah it feels like they’re spending a ton of money right now but really they’re putting together a team that can sustain itself for the long term yeah going back to Tim Duncan I just wanted to clear that up he did take1 million less KD was 10 so obviously it’s not nearly to the scale of what Jaylen Brunson is facing right now uh just sort of using that as a bridge there I want to go back though to something that you said about the contender conversation here you’re still not convinced that they are a contender or or how do you feel because we talked about the 76ers and all the moves they made adding Paul George retaining um Kyle Lowry just a couple days ago too so where are they on that scale when we think about what the 76ers and maybe some of the other teams in the Eastern Conference what they’ve done in the offseason yeah don’t get it twisted they’re a contender absolutely they are absolutely a contender they looked at the blueprint that the Minnesota tber Wolves and the Boston Celtics put together which is a formidable perimeter defensive front and then they have a backside rim protector that’s also Elite you put those two things together the ball pressure we saw it what Boston was able to do to Luca donic and Kyrie Irving and now the Knicks can match that with Mel Bridges and Dante chinzo uh and Oobi they are one of the few teams that can match the Celtics in terms of multiple perimeter Elite defensive options and a backside rim protector they did not disrupt the offensive Clarity in terms of bringing in say a Donovan Mitchell where now you’re wondering does Jaylen Brunson still control the team they have kept the identity of the team in place and built out what has become the biggest priority this off season across the league OKC went out and signed Caruso and hartenstein all these teams are making defensive moves because they saw the blueprint that Boston put together and New York can do that I do believe they’re a contender but they are not a one-year Contender that’s the key it’s not like where we said okay the Bucks they go out and make the Damen Lillard trade we gotta win right now Brook Lopez is getting old Damen Lillard’s getting old deis sanon Koo might be getting antsy the Suns they gotta win right now Kevin Duron whatever he’s in the 17th season uh no they put this team together they’re a contender right now but they are not all in on a short time frame and that’s what the structure of these deals allow them to do is picture a contending window further out than the super short term it is certainly an unprecedented deal with Jaylen Brunson but to your point Brad they are looking to win now and win in the future thanks so much for hopping on HQ with us be sure to check out Brad’s article by the way on CBS sports.com the push alert just went out so it is active and here’s where things get kind of interesting Jaylen Brunson based on the season he had last year averaging just about 29 Points was named to the second team for just the first time in his career you’re looking at some of the other guys who were on the all NBA second and third team as well there’s some big names on this list could we see Jaylen Brunson competing for a championship next year and certainly feels that way with what the Knicks are doing but we will have to see how the offseason continues [Music] fore for for spe for spe for for for for you

“Build him a statue” – Stephen A. reacts to Jalen Brunson takes a pay cut to stay in Knicks