Jalen Brunson functions as the New York Knicks' offensive lifeline. There is nothing inherently wrong with that. It is the equivalent of stating, at the top of your lungs, "Hey, NBA superstars are important to their team!"
Who knew?
At some point, though, dependence on a singular player, however talented, can go too far, veering toward extremes that undermine ceilings and supercharge fragility. The Knicks have ostensibly assembled a supporting cast designed to bust through that brick wall. Their top-of-the-roster doesn't feature anyone capable of spearheading an offense on their own, but it's speckled with should-be secondary creators, connective passers and plug-and-play scorers. The sum of their parts should offset the absence of another primary initiator and superstar self-starter.
It's working on the surface. New York is pumping in 118.5 points per 100 possessions with Brunson off the floor this season, a number that ranks inside the 78th percentile. This is a far cry from last year's 108.4 offensive rating during stretches without Brunson, which placed in the 14th percentile.
Yet, when you watch the Knicks, it can look and feel like their attack stagnates, both with and without Brunson, in ways unbecoming of the top-five offense they actually have. And it raises a critical question ahead of the NBA playoffs: Is New York still too dependent on Brunson to get by?
Jalen Brunson still carries an incredibly heavy workload
The Knicks' dependence on Brunson manifests most in crunch time, where he comfortably has the highest usage rate among 350-plus players who've made at least five appearances. That is great for his Clutch Player of the Year odds. But it speaks to either a lack of innovation or optionality overall.
Of course, this isn't just about those high-stakes moments. You can see the extent to which the Knicks lean on Brunson during any given possession. Something as simple as their dip in transition frequency with him on the court nods to how often they default to slowing things down and letting him cook.
The overall load he ferries is absurd. Among the 260-plus players to clear at least 1,000 total minutes, only 10 have a higher true usage rate, which incorporates both scoring and playmaking possessions, including potential assists. And this, mind you, is an improvement over last year, when Brunson ranked fourth in the same category.
Do the Knicks have the personnel to give Brunson relief?
Harping on Brunson's exhaustive workload does only so much if the team doesn't have the personnel to streamline it. Heading into the playoffs, it isn't quite clear whether the Knicks do.
On some nights, New York's offense seems patently deeper than Brunson. There is definitely more playmaking-IQ depth around him when looking at Josh Hart, Karl-Anthony, Mikal Bridges and, more recently, even OG Anunoby. This isn't as true from a scoring perspective.
Below, you can see the percentiles in which Brunson's teammates have ranked in certain categories both this season and last. The 2023-24 results are in parenthesis, and these all come via BBall Index database:
- Half-Court Shot Creation: 30th percentile (36th percentile)
- Three-Point Shot Creation: 15th percentile (30th percentile)
- Rim Shot Creation: 41st percentile (67th percentile)
- On-Ball Gravity: 50th percentile (5th percentile)
- Self-Created Shot-Making Efficiency: 69th percentile (13th percentile)
This is...not ideal. And the trend continues even when looking at the secondary playmaking. The roster may be populated with more secondary passing in the aggregate, but it doesn't have the type of alternate creator who can consistently run the offense from a dead stop, and from multiple levels.
Do the Knicks have enough help for Brunson in the playoffs?
New York's overall offensive results coupled with the knowledge Brunson will play even more during the postseason can be treated as a license to dismiss these concerns. Worry more about the defense. Or something.
This is at once a justifiable and short-sighted way of viewing things. Yes, the Knicks' defense versus elite opponents with Brunson and KAT on the floor is a larger concern. But that issue invariably decreases their margin for error on the offensive end.
Playing the same team in a best-of-seven series is just different. Brunson already draws the toughest covers and most doubles on the team. What happens when opponents get even more aggressive with him? Or when they throw even larger wing defenders on him? Or when they more frequently stash their bigs on Hart, freeing them up to roam and impede Brunson's joie de vivre in the lane?
Someone else will have to do more. Is that player Towns, with his ability to punish mismatches down low and draw multiple bodies to the ball on drives? Is it Bridges and his more-than-occasional knack for snaking into the in-between?
Might it be the best version of Anunoby we've ever seen, with his more purposeful drives and slightly more complex shot selection? Is it somehow Hart, not for his raw shot creation, but for the pace he imbues into possessions after grabbing a rebound?
Can the Knicks just get more creative with how they use Brunson? Do they have the on-ball talent to have him screen more, as we saw in their April 8 near-victory versus Boston? Or to orbit the arc and create time and space for any one of the secondary options?
If what we've seen for most of this season is any indication, the answer is neither "no" nor "yes." It is to be determined. Whether that open-endedness is a feature of this roster's construction, or a bug that will contribute to its playoff exit remains to be seen.
Dan Favale is a Senior NBA Contributor for FanSided and National NBA Writer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Bluesky (@danfavale), and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, co-hosted by Bleacher Report's Grant Hughes.