Jalen Brunson will be in the MVP race this season, not as a dark horse, but as a legitimate top-five contender. And if the Knicks finish top two in the East, which they are fully built to do, Brunson may end up leading the entire conversation.
David Jacoby made a great point on The Mismatch podcast: “Brunson is more likely to be in the top five of MVP... If we accept that the Knicks are going to be one of the top two [teams in the East]...Brunson would be much more likely to get the best player on the best team vote.”
The Knicks are built to elevate Brunson’s MVP bid
The blueprint is simple: elite production + team success = MVP talks. Brunson has already proven he can deliver both. Last season, he averaged 26 points and 7.3 assists, earned his second straight All-NBA Second Team selection, and was named the NBA’s Clutch Player of the Year.
He led the league in clutch field goals made and ranked among the top league when it came to racking up points and assists during the most pressure-packed minutes of the game.
Do not forget that this all came right after his career-best season in 2023-24, when he dropped 28.7 points per game and finished fifth in MVP voting. This is no longer about him leaping. He has already made it. He is a star, one of the most consistent and composed leaders in the league.
The Knicks have followed his lead to three straight playoff appearances, back-to-back 50-win seasons, and their first Eastern Conference Finals appearance in 25 years. Now they are even better.
New York upgraded their depth this offseason and brought in head coach Mike Brown, a battle-tested leader with a system built for postseason basketball. The Knicks enter 2025-26 as one of the most complete and well-structured teams in the league, and in an Eastern Conference that is suddenly wide open, they have never been in a better position to take over.
Tyrese Haliburton and Jayson Tatum have both suffered Achilles injuries and are expected to miss the majority, if not all, of next season, and Damian Lillard was waived by the Milwaukee Bucks. These three moves alone have drastically shifted the balance of power. Teams that were supposed to be title threats are now just hoping to stay afloat. The Knicks? They should be poised to take advantage of this opportunity.
This season, Jalen Brunson has everything lined up: the role, the resume, the roster, and the runway. Do not pencil him in for MVP consideration. Write it in ink, or even better, grab a permanent marker.