Jalen Brunson and the New York Knicks have just begun what figures to be a highly important offseason as for the future direction of the franchise. While it was an upstart season for the Knicks, the team ultimately simply ran out of healthy bodies in their Eastern Conference semifinals matchup vs the Indiana Pacers, with Brunson fracturing his hand in the second half of Game 7, which the Knicks lost in blowout fashion.

Still, that setback shouldn't take away from what was overall a very successful season for New York, a team that made it this far in the playoffs a year ago but looked like a true juggernaut this year when they had their full lineup intact (which unfortunately didn't occur very often).

In any case, the team now has some key decisions to make regarding some of its key players this summer, including Brunson, who has already established himself as one of the most accomplished Knicks players in history despite not yet reaching the conference finals with the team.

If the latest reports are any indication, the team could be willing to extend the point guard a massive contract extension this offseason.

“Brunson turned out to be a bargain free-agent signing two years ago at $107 million for four years,” reported Steve Popper of Newday. “All indications are he won’t hold the team up now, and that he's willing to sign a four-year, $156 million contract extension. That would remove his fourth season from the current deal and provide five more years of certainty in New York, rather than waiting until next summer for a five-year, $270 million extension.”

Popper also noted that extension talks are a bit different for star power forward Julius Randle, who made another All-Star team this year but was injured for the last three months of the season and the playoffs.

“Randle is a tougher question. He also is on a team-friendly deal but suffered a serious shoulder injury this season. Could they opt to wait and see how his shoulder holds up?” wondered Popper.

What could have been

While it's true that the team that ends up winning the NBA championship is usually the one that stays the healthiest, there are few if any playoff runs in postseason memory that hold a candle to the sheer volume of injuries that the Knicks sustained during this run.

Over the course of the month that New York was in the playoffs, Mitchell Robinson, Bojan Bogdanovic, OG Anunoby, Josh Hart, and Brunson all sustained injuries, and that's not even including Randle, the Knicks' second best player who was out of the lineup for the entirety of the postseason.

While the Knicks may have an odd reputation as a young up and coming team, the reality is that all of their key pieces are either in the heart of or nearing the end of their prime, meaning that the pressure is on for the front office to make some “win now” moves to maximize the time of Brunson, who will be 28 next year, while Hart and Randle will both turn 30.