Mikal Bridges has agreed to a four-year, $150 million contract extension with the New York Knicks. The deal, reported Thursday by ESPN, has seemingly been in the works for more than a year after the Knicks acquired Bridges last offseason in a blockbuster trade with the Brooklyn Nets.
Soon after acquiring Bridges, the Knicks agreed to a long-term contract extension with cornerstone point guard Jalen Brunson, a team-friendly deal that came in well below market value. The expectation ever since was that Bridges, a Brunson teammate at Villanova, would follow suit — all in an effort to help keep together for the long haul a championship-contending roster New York has built over the last couple seasons.
With Bridges locked up, all five of the Knicks’ regular-season starters from a year ago — when they advanced to their first Eastern Conference Finals in 25 years — are locked up for at least the next two seasons (with another option year on top of that).
While the cost of securing those players has been steep, Bridges and the Knicks made meaningful concessions to get this deal across the finish line. So, what does the Bridges extension mean for New York both in the short and long term?
Here comes the second apron …
The Knicks have managed their finances about as intentionally as any team in basketball. They have deftly managed to duck the second apron for the second straight season. However, the way their contracts were structured, it was always likely that New York would find the second apron for the 2026-27 and 2027-28 campaigns — assuming the front office decides to keep the team together.
Depending where the Knicks draft and whether Guerschon Yabusele picks up his player option, New York was looking at somewhere between $45 million to $55 million in room beneath the second apron. If Bridges starts his new deal at the highest possible salary, he’ll cost around $33.5 million for the 2026-27 season. However, the Knicks will only have nine players under contract, eight if Yabusele opts out. Mitchell Robinson is not among them. if…
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