There were plenty of naysayers when the New York Knicks signed Jalen Brunson to a four-year, $104 million deal in free agency. He wasn’t good enough to warrant that contract, he wouldn’t be able to perform without Luka Doncic, he would fail on one of the biggest stages in the NBA. All of those critiques (and plenty more) have been proven wrong.
Brunson went from being overpaid to being underpaid real quick. The 26-year-old is averaging a career-high 24 points and a career-high 6.2 assists while shooting 49.1% from the field and another career-high 41.6% from three. While Julius Randle’s ascension back to All-Stardom has helped to elevate New York back to being a playoff team this season, Brunson’s addition has made the biggest difference.
He somehow wasn’t named an All-Star reserve and most likely won’t be named All-NBA, but Brunson has turned into a far different player than many thought he would be. That includes ESPN’s Tim Legler, who was recently a guest on JJ Redick’s ‘Old Man and the Three’ podcast.
Tim Legler says his underestimation of Jalen Brunson’s ceiling is the biggest miss of his career as a broadcaster
— Cynical (@CynicalNYK) April 2, 2023
“I just missed it on how good he could be and I’m going to be singing his praises for the rest of his career” pic.twitter.com/AjiMPG5TmN
ESPN’s Tim Legler praises Knicks’ Jalen Brunson on JJ Redick’s podcast
Tim Legler held himself accountable for miscalculating how good Jalen Brunson would be by saying:
"“I missed by as wide a degree as any player I’ve covered in my career as a broadcaster the ceiling for a player as I have with Jalen Brunson.”"
Legler called Brunson a “great college player” and he admitted that he wasn’t sure if Brunson could be a starting point guard for a good team. He called Brunson “sensational” for what he did in Dallas, but he still questioned Brunson’s ceiling after he signed with New York in free agency. He talked about Brunson potentially being a 16-18 PPG scorer, but he’s exceeded even that expectation.
At least Legler didn’t dismiss Brunson altogether when he signed with the Knicks, which is what many did. It was chalked up to being nothing more than another failure by New York’s front office, but now the failure lies with Dallas for not re-signing Brunson to a four-year, $55 million deal when the team had the chance.
If NBA fans somehow still aren’t paying attention to Jalen Brunson, he and the Knicks will be a team to watch when the playoffs start. Remember what he did last year for the Mavericks? Expect that plus more.
Knicks all-time starting 5: Players who never reached playoffs in NY
The New York Knicks have struggled to make the playoffs since 2001, and here is a look at their best players that failed to reach the postseason in NY?