Jalen Brunson has not operated at the peak of his powers for much of the NBA Finals, and it’s becoming a problem. The New York Knicks could potentially solve it by playing him alongside…Jose Alvarado.
Going ultra-small seems counterintuitive with a 7’4” Victor Wembanyama roving around the half-court. But the San Antonio Spurs aren’t fielding players with a ton of size beyond him. Many of their guards are bigger for their position. They’re not objectively gigantic.
Not that rolling with an Alvarado-Brunson backcourt for stretches is entirely safe. It is a massive gamble in miniature. The Knicks have not played the two together during the playoffs, and they logged just 114 minutes of action alongside one another in the regular season.
Still, New York needs to do something, anything, to get Brunson going.
Jose Alvarado lets the Knicks use Jalen Brunson off the ball more
The Knicks offense has looked at its most unstoppable when Brunson is allowed to explore different horizons in the half-court. He will be on the ball when it matters most, because he’s both their best player, and the initiator most equipped to decision-make against defensive pressure. But New York’s postseason morphed into one for the record books when it started funneling more touches through Karl-Anthony Towns, and leveraged Brunson’s off-ball movement and gravity.
Returning to those KAT-as-hub roots remains an option. The Knicks should actually view it as imperative. But Towns cannot spare Brunson from bringing the rock up against physical presses as often as a more traditional ball-handler.
Short of dusting off NBA Cup superhero Tyler Kolek, New York doesn’t have an obvious alternative. Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart, OG Anunoby, and Deuce McBride will all have their issues in these situations, particularly if they’re attempting to get the ball off an inbounds.
Alvarado isn’t the ideal contingency, either. That says more about his six-foot frame than his skill set. Yet, even at his size, he is the Knicks’ best non-Brunson option.
With the exception of OG Anunoby, no one other than Alvarado is puncturing the paint as frequently or fearlessly. Metrics measuring pace won’t all support this, but he’s also someone who’s willing to bump up the cadence of play, regardless of whether he’s operating off an opponent make, miss, or turnover.
For Brunson’s sake, the Alvarado dice roll is worth a shot
History suggests Brunson will be perfectly okay and figure out the Spurs if left to his own devices. The Knicks should nevertheless be turning over every rock in search of optimization.
Brunson’s on-ball workload is currently through the roof. After averaging 1.8 zero-dribble three-point attempts per game in the first three rounds, that number has plummeted to 0.6 against San Antonio. His usage rate has skyrocketed by virtually nine percentage points, going from 30.7 to 39.6.
Everything is harder. And uglier. Heroic fourth-quarter moments don’t change that. Any of it.
Just as the Knicks must put Towns in a position to set up his teammates and punish mismatches, they must also design their attack to streamline Brunson’s existence. More touches for KAT are only part of the answer. He may not be able to handle the ball against Stephon Castle, particularly with Wemby waiting down low.
Alvarado has a better chance of doing live-dribble work in the half-court, and alleviating the workload Brunson is ferrying. Playing them together could also backfire. That is on the table. The Knicks can’t know one way or the other unless they try. Which they absolutely should.
Add us as a preferred source on Google