As the New York Knicks prep for the offseason, they have been doing their homework on some of the current players participating in the NBA playoffs. One of the most talked about names is Jalen Brunson of the Dallas Mavericks.
The different routes New York could go with its roster construction is all over the place. From the current pieces on the team to the draft, to free agency, to potential trades — there isn’t one single approach that appears to be the clear option.
And yet, while the process in which they go about improving their roster for next season is up in the air, there seems to be solid consensus on one team need — the Knicks need a new lead guard.
The New York Knicks have been scouting Dallas guard Jalen Brunson
Finding a guard who can help their offense seems to be a priority for this team. The Knicks may not be playing, but they have been well represented in the Jazz/Mavericks series.
Knicks office members Allan Houston and World Wide Wes have been courtside during the series. Even before the series, Brunson, along with Donovan Mitchell, have both been names linked to New York. Jazz officials were even displeased with the Knicks’ front office presence at Game 1.
Opinions on Brunson have been all over the place. What caliber of player is he really? Question marks around his game are valid, but during these playoffs, he’s shown he can be a big-time performer as a ball-handling and scoring guard.
It may just be enough to sway Knicks brass that he would be worth the expensive price tag.
The Knicks are watching Jalen Brunson erupt
In five games so far in the series, Brunson is averaging:
- 28.6 points per game
- 5.2 rebounds per game
- 4.6 assists per game
Brunson had to carry a heavy load with Luka Doncic out early in the series. In the regular season, Brunson averaged 20.4 points and 7.5 assists without Doncic in the lineup. He is starting to prove that he can be a central part of an NBA offense.
Brunson has been seen as a solid player for a while now, but it’s just recently that he began to tap into this higher level that he’s been playing at. Maybe this is just who he is.
It’s a classic sports cliche that maybe doesn’t deserve to be a cliche and gets blown out of proportion. The cliche of the playoff performer in a contract year getting a big payday and never reaching that level again. I feel like Bismack Biyombo is always the one player who gets brought up in this conversation.
With Brunson, it just doesn’t seem flukey. He’s quick, he’s shifty, he can score at all three levels, and he’s found ways to make an impact at all stages of the game, which is an incredibly difficult task for anyone in a playoff series.
Watching him be this high-end guard in the postseason and knowing he will be an unrestricted free agent has to be enticing.
Brunson is 25-years-old. He is just hitting his prime now. The ties to the Knicks organization are well documented. From his dad being a former player to Leon Rose being both Jalen and his dad’s agent at different points, a lot is tying Brunson to New York.
While signing an ascending guard to their roster may seem like a no-brainer, there are certainly some reasons the Knicks should proceed with caution.
Jalen Brunson is no superstar
Even as someone who finds themselves becoming more and more of a Brunson fan every day, there are reasons why he isn’t a slam dunk of a pickup. If the Knicks are signing Brunson this offseason, it means they’re breaking the bank.
Brunson will likely command somewhere in the 20-25 million dollar range, which makes sense. In a weak free agency class, Brunson gets to come in as a young guard who just went off in the playoffs. A lot of teams will be looking at him as someone just beginning to realize their untapped potential.
The Knicks will be one of those teams, but one thing to keep in mind is their salary cap situation. Signing Brunson to a long-term deal means they will have committed long-term money to Brunson, Evan Fournier, and Julius Randle. That doesn’t sound very pretty when you write it or say it out loud.
And while it’s easy to say that they can “just trade” Fournier and Randle, that’s a lot easier said than done. The team would likely be committing to that nucleus, along with RJ Barrett, who is also due for a payday.
New York’s a team that’s stuck somewhere between being young and developing and being urgent to start winning in the third year of a regime. The question really boils down to if Brunson can fit in with this team and their timeline of finding long-term success.
Is Jalen Brunson worth it for the Knicks?
What makes this hypothetical free agent signing so divisive is the uncertainty surrounding not just the Knicks’ current roster, but Brunson’s potential impact on a new team. Is Brunson someone who can join a younger team like New York and help it get to another level?
My gut tells me he’s worth it. There’s the part of you as a Knicks fan that is always hesitant to throw money at players who aren’t superstars. Then there’s the part of you that feels like you have Stockholm Syndrome and you wonder why signing a great young point guard should even be a question for this team.
Can Brunson, on a new team where he is the lead guard, be someone who averages around 20 points and 6 assists per game? It’s tough to say.
I think the “high-end” player comparison people like to make for Brunson is Fred VanVleet. The comparisons are obvious: their shorter stature, their feisty playstyle, their ability to initiate the offense, and their “late-blooming” career trajectory.
Still, the 28-year-old VanVleet is coming off an All-Star season and is a proven defender, so those comparisons may be a little lofty. I think there are some names we can float around as possible comparisons to Brunson. In terms of the “tier” of guard and what he’s worth, he maybe falls in line with guys like Terry Rozier, Lonzo Ball, or even D’Angelo Russell.
Not that he has an identical skillset at all to those players, but it’s rather about what his value could be on a team. All of those players got big second contracts. That’s just how the NBA works.
For a team like New York, which really lacks a ball-handling guard that knows how to get into the teeth of the defense while creating their own shot and creating shots for their teammates, Brunson could be a solid answer.
What they do with the rest of their roster remains to be seen. But adding Brunson to the team they already have could give them a significant boost and a brighter outlook in both the short-term and the long-term.
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