NBA Rumors: Mikal Bridges, Knicks Won’t Talk Contract Extension Until 2025 Offseason

New York Knicks forward Mikal Bridges will be eligible to sign a a two-year extension worth around $61 million starting on Oct. 1, though it doesn’t sound as though he’ll go that route.

“The indication I’ve gotten just from talking to people is that there is not going to be an extension,” ESPN’s Bobby Marks said during an appearance on the Hoop Collective podcast (12:00 mark) Sunday. “That he will wait until next year. Because he’s limited as far as the six-month rule, as far as what he can extend for. Next year, he can extend for four years. So it just gives him more flexibility. That could certainly change by Oct. 21. Maybe this trade does change that thinking.”

A few points of clarification.

One, the aforementioned six-month rule applies to players who are traded. For six months after a trade, extension-eligible players can only sign deals that will take them to four total years under contract. So because Bridges is already under contract for another two seasons, he can only extend for two more.

Additionally, players can only receive a 20 percent raise in the first year of the extension, followed by a five percent raise in each corresponding year. So Bridges could sign a deal that would net him just under $30 million in the 2026-27 season and just over $31 million the following campaign.

Previous reporting had suggested that Bridges might take such a deal, offering the Knicks the same sort of extension discount that Jalen Brunson took to ease New York’s salary cap constraints.

And as Marks noted, Bridges still could choose to take a discount in the wake of the Knicks reportedly landing Karl-Anthony Towns in a three-team deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Charlotte Hornets, which will also send Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo to Minny.

Marks said that he spoke to people about the possibility of a Bridges extension before that trade was orchestrated. It’s possible that Bridges’ thinking has changed, or will change, after the Knicks revamped the roster yet again.

Either way, the Knicks will now build around a Big Four of Brunson, Towns, Bridges and Anunoby. No team has made bigger splashes this offseason than the Knicks as they look to keep pace with the defending champion Boston Celtics.