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The Knicks benefited from a Villanova discount again.
On Thursday, the Knicks agreed to a four-year, $150 million extension with forward Mikal Bridges. The deal came with a player option for the 2029–30 season and a trade kicker. The news was first reported by ESPN.
The extension is $6 million short of the maximum Bridges could have signed for in a four-year contract before hitting free agency. Had Bridges waited until next summer and become an unrestricted free agent, he could have signed with the Knicks for up to four years and $229 million or five years and $296 million. Another team, which didn’t have Bridges’ Bird Rights, could have offered Bridges a four-year deal for a maximum of $219 million.
The deal also locked up the Knicks’ core through the next two seasons as Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby, Brunson, and Josh Hart, who also played with Bridges at Villanova, are now all extended. In May, the Knicks made their first conference finals since 2000, but fell to the Indiana Pacers in six games. Achilles injuries to Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton make the Eastern Conference wide-open next season, and the Knicks are trying to capitalize on it with their roster continuity.
Bridges left $6 million on the table to prioritize sustained success with New York, according to The Athletic. His discount is the second one the Knicks have received from their core of Villanova alums. In 2024, Jalen Brunson, who also played with Bridges in college, signed an extension for $100 million under the max. Combined, the two discounts are expected to help the Knicks avoid the second apron for the next three seasons.
The Knicks’ current team salary for the 2025–26 season is roughly $204.1 million, which will be just less than $4 million under the second apron, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks. The Knicks project to be $18.6 million and $31 million below the second apron in the following two seasons, even with Bridges’ extension. The space also gives the Knicks the ability to re-sign center Mitchell Robinson, the team’s longest tenured player, who will be a free agent next summer.
Robinson will make just under $13 million this season, which is the final year of a four-year, $60 million deal he signed in 2022. An extension for Robinson could still put the Knicks in the second apron, but later than originally projected, giving them a chance to capitalize on their contention window.
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