Matt Barnes spent the prime of his career in the West Coast. But in the upcoming NBA season, he’s looking forward to the East. It’s not that the five minutes in New York during the 2005 season are stirring latent feelings. His hopes and dreams ride on Jalen Brunson. The Knicks are looking like a new team (quite literally) since Jalen Brunson ended his free agency. Logistically, he took a pay cut. But those outside New York think he’s grossly overpaid. However, a few NBA stars like Charles Barkley and now Matt Barnes believe he’s worth every penny.

While on The Rich Eisen Show, Barnes listed his predictions for the season. And the New York Knicks stood out because of their star player. “I can’t wait to see what Brunson does with this. It’s going to be special.”

The series of decisions the Knicks have made fill him with confidence. Including the contract they gave Brunson and the trades that got them Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns.

“I mean I think all the heat he got for that check you given him too much… I think he’s underpaid. He’s been outperforming his salary… Now he’s got two new running mates and I think it’s going to be some basketball in New York,” he told Rich Eisen.

Two years ago, there was a narrative that Jalen Brunson was overpaid and overrated at $104 million. He’s since exceeded expectations, deserving of the $156 million in 2024. He is, however, underpaid after voluntarily leaving $113 million on the table.

According to insiders, Brunson looked at MVPs like Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes, and Derek Jeter in his decision. By giving the Knicks a huge discount, he left them plenty of cap space to build a team with solid championship contention. They now have a dozen players on standard contracts, including Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns.

Jalen Brunson’s moves impress veterans

Charles Barkley loves touting the examples of Brady and Mahomes – never the highest paid players in the NFL but champions – for sacrificing a big payday in order to build a team. So he was extremely thrilled that Brunson took that cue. Putting aside his animosity for New York, the 76ers legend said, “Brunson is one of the best free agent signings of all time.”

He pretty much agreed that Brunson was overpaid in 2022, but he’s lived up to the contractual expectations. Brunson’s teammate, Josh Hart, was immediately campaigning for a statue in honor of Jalen too. Even NBA commissioner Adam Silver was excited for the Knicks.

With all that cap room, everyone anticipated how Knicks would utilize it. Last week, the team certainly shook the league by pulling the trigger on a three-team deal. Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo were shipped to Minnesota in exchange for KAT. But the Knicks and Towns still have to put pen to paper on a deal. So we’ll have to wait and see what Matt Barnes thinks then.