If the New York Knicks want to win a championship this season, Jalen Brunson is still the key to everything. Ironically, after a coaching change, after midseason woes, after Karl-Anthony Towns trade rumors, and a whole host of other storylines, Brunson is still at the center of everything New York hopes to accomplish. And it’s always been that way.
It’s not always as cut-and-dry as ‘Brunson needs to score 50 points for the Knicks to win.’ They have support around him. That’s why they’ve made the moves they have. But in the playoffs, it’s almost always about how far a team’s top guys can take them.
And in the case of New York, that is, and always has been, Brunson.
The Knicks' playoff hopes run through Jalen Brunson
As New York has stumbled and risen, and stumbled and risen again throughout the course of the last few weeks, Brunson’s play has been up and down.
On some nights, he looks great. And on others, he doesn’t score the ball as well. But in the playoffs, New York can’t really afford that level of night-to-night uncertainty.
Though Towns is a solid scorer, and he’s had big-time games for the Knicks throughout the course of this season, it’s clear that New York wants the ball in one man’s hands when the game clock is winding down: Brunson.
Teams will try to take the ball out of his hands. They’ll turn him into a passer. They’ll make Towns, OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges, and Josh Hart beat them. But the Knicks need Brunson to push through those challenges.
It’s ironic, really. The Knicks have gone through a lot this past year. They’ve changed a lot, kept a lot the same, and made some franchise-altering decisions, all with the ultimate goal of winning a championship.
Despite an Eastern Conference finals birth, the Knicks fired Tom Thibodeau and brought in Mike Brown. They wanted a change of leadership at the forefront of their organization.
They reportedly explored Towns trades at the deadline. They’ve rotated through depth piece after depth piece. They signed Guerschon Yabusele this summer to be a backup big man, then they effectively traded him for Jose Alvarado at the deadline.
All of those moves. Everything done in pursuit of the Larry O’Brien trophy.
But now, with less than two weeks left until the start of the playoffs, it all boils down to the same thing that it always has: Brunson.
The Knicks’ playoff hopes run through Brunson. He needs to lead them to a title. It’s all about Brunson.