Brunson signs 4-year, $104M deal with Knicks
The New York Knicks are signing top free-agent guard Jalen Brunson to a four-year, $104 million contract, his agents told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
The deal will include a player option for the fourth season.
It was reported on Wednesday that Brunson would field meetings with the Knicks, Mavericks, and Miami Heat once free agency opened on Thursday evening.
The Knicks had been seen as front-runners for Brunson since Dallas' season ended in the Western Conference finals. New York recently hired Brunson's father, Rick, as an assistant coach, and the team's president, Leon Rose, was once an agent for both Brunsons.
The 6-foot-1 guard had a breakout 2021-22 campaign, averaging 16.3 points and 4.8 assists per game while dropping 21.6 points per contest in the postseason.
Brunson fell to the second round of the 2018 NBA Draft, despite winning the national championship at Villanova and being named an All-American his final year in college. He immediately outperformed his draft position, starting 38 games as a rookie.
With Mavericks star Luka Doncic dealing with an injury to begin this year's playoffs, Brunson came up huge in a six-game first-round series victory over the Utah Jazz. He averaged nearly 28 points per game and put up a signature 41-point performance in a narrow Game 2 victory.
The 25-year-old's ability to get to the basket offensively and make perimeter shots at an efficient clip will assist a Knicks team that ranked 26th in points and dead last in assists last season.