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Josh Hart wants a Jalen Brunson statue after Knicks extension sacrifice

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Josh Hart wants a Jalen Brunson statue after Knicks extension sacrifice

Josh Hart wants to do something special for Jalen Brunson after the Knicks star signed an extremely team-friendly deal on Friday.

The Knicks wing is calling on the franchise to erect a monument for Brunson after he left more than $100 million on the table to help keep the team in title contention for years to come. 

“Build him a statue,” Hart wrote in a post on X. 

Jalen Brunson signed a contract extension with the Knicks on Friday. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post

Brunson agreed to a four-year, $156.5 million extension, which is $113M less guaranteed than the five-year, $269.1 deal he’d be eligible to sign next summer.

ESPN reported that franchise stars like Patrick Mahomes, Derek Jeter and Tom Brady provided Brunson “a blueprint for MVP-level players who structured contracts to give their teams the best chances at sustainable title runs.”

The deal helps the Knicks avoid the dreaded second apron, which allows them to keep making trades and adding around the margins to their young core. 

Josh Hart (L.) and Jalen Brunson have been friends since their college days at Villanova. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post

The extension starts in 2025-26 and includes a player option for the fourth season, when he’ll be 31.

Once this deal is up, Brunson could make up for the lost salary by signing a veteran max deal estimated at five years, $418 million. 

In late March, Brunson hinted that “security” was an important thing to him when it came to contract negotiations this summer. 

Josh Hart wants to build a statue for Jalen Brunson. Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

“Obviously that’s a thing that you want, to obviously have security,” Brunson said.

With Brunson locked up, most of the Knicks’ impact players — OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges, Hart, Donte DiVincenzo, Mitchell Robinson and Miles McBride — are signed through at least the 2025-26 season.

Julius Randle, who has a $31 million player option for the 2025-26 campaign, is the only major rotation piece for the Knicks that’s not currently on a long-term deal. 

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