No good deed goes unpunished, especially when the New York Knicks are involved.
Jalen Brunson's sacrificial contract extension has made all the right headlines in Manhattan, as many are lauding the point guard's decision to sign an immediate four-year, $156.5 million deal as selfless. Had Brunson waited until next summer to sign, $113 million would've been added to the Knicks' bill.
Former NBA veteran Dennis Scott, who shared a brief Knicks tenure with Brunson's father and current Knicks assistant Rick, believes that other veterans on pace for big deals may not appreciate the gesture as much.
"I bumped into my good friend Rick Brunson last night, I said, ‘I’m happy for you and Jalen, you raised a heck of a son, but you know you messed up the game now. You messed up the game,'” Scott said as he provided color commentary for the New Orleans Pelicans' Summer League game against the San Antonio Spurs (h/t New York Basketball on X).
The Brunson discussion was prompted when Scott and play-by-play man Jordan Cornette debated the future of Pelicans star Brandon Ingram, who could enter this season as a Big Easy lame duck with a five-year, $158 million contract set to expire after this season.
"I love the fact you want to win and you're living up to it. I think it’s great," Scott, who played 15 games of a 10-year NBA career with the Knicks, said. "“But now, Brandon Ingram is in the same situation. I want to win. But are you willing to take less to win? Or do you want all that’s deserving to you because of the situation and timing?”
Unlike some critics, Scott did offer to see the wider picture: Brunson's sacrifice, widely debated beyond New York, was said to be done in the name of keeping the Knicks' current core together.
New York recently granted OG Anunoby a nine-figure deal to stay in Manhattan and another may be looming for Brunson's fellow All-Star Julius Randle. New York has also assembled Brunson's championship teammates from Villanova, as Mikal Bridges joined Donte DiVincenzo and Josh Hart through a June trade with the Brooklyn Nets.
"That is the conversation around our world now. Brunson did something different. He’s different," Scott said. "You understand if you want your money, nobody’s mad at you. But don’t get mad when your team’s not that deep and you cannot make your roster deep enough, don’t get mad at that either.”
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