Knicks, Jalen Brunson Agree to Four-Year Deal

The New York Knicks and free agent point guard Jalen Brunson, who turned in a breakout season as a member of the Dallas Mavericks, have agreed to a four-year, $104 million deal, according to his agents Aaron Mintz and Sam Rose of CAA, via ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Brunson’s reps informed the Mavericks of his intentions to sign with the Knicks, and Brunson’s new deal includes a player option on the final season of the contract.

Brunson, 25, averaged 16.3 points and 4.8 assists per game last season for the Mavericks, who made a run to the Western Conference Finals but fell short to the eventual NBA Champion Golden State Warriors.

Mavericks governor Mark Cuban and general manager Nico Harrison made it a priority to retain Brunson this offseason, but it was long expected that the Knicks would be strong competition for Brunson and ready to pay him a big contract to lure him away from Dallas.

Brunson declined the Mavericks’ offer of a four-year, $55.5 million contract extension after the trade deadline. Brunson had told the team in January that he was willing to sign a contract extension if it was offered then, but the Mavs held off on discussions until after the trade deadline just in case they were able to trade for a star, which would have been halted if Brunson signed a deal as he would not be able to be traded for six months.

Brunson is now front and center in New York.