In this era of the NBA with crippling tax penalties, it seems that every team is looking for its own version of New York Knicks centerpiece, Jalen Brunson -- an overlooked prospect who, after being selected in the second round of the 2018 draft, has now burst into legitimate superstardom.
Ironically enough, it seems that this same team that rosters the coveted archetype is the one that may have handed a potential early-stage 2.0 version of Brunson to the reigning champions.
Knicks dealt Ajay Mitchell to OKC, who's receiving Jalen Brunson comps
Though they may already roster the likes of All-NBA forward Jalen Williams, rising star big man Chet Holmgren, and, of course, 2025 MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, through just over a month of action, all anyone can seemingly talk about when it comes to this OKC Thunder team is the emergence of sophomore Ajay Mitchell.
Directly after being selected 38 overall by the Knicks in the 2024 NBA Draft, Leon Rose and company opted to ship the Santa Barbara product out to the Sooner State in exchange for Marquette forward Oso Ighodaro (40 overall pick) and cash considerations.
Though at the time, the exchange seemed logical, especially considering they had already taken Tyler Kolek four spots earlier to help address their backcourt depth, now well over a year later, it's become painfully obvious that they made a grave mistake.
While Kolek finds himself receiving harsh criticisms from both fans and pundits alike for his relatively capped skill set, Mitchell is regularly the recipient of high-praise remarks, with both Sam Vecenie and Bryce Simon recently comparing him to Brunson on an episode of the Game Theory Podcast.
In fact, Vecenie would even make it a point to state that Mitchell's first two seasons "have been a little bit better" than Brunson's were.
Through 21 games played in 2025-26, the 23-year-old is posting highly impressive averages of 15.2 points, 3.7 assists, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.6 steals per game while ranking fifth in net rating (16.8) and plus-minus (+9.4) on the top-seeded Thunder (minimum 10 games played).
On top of this, he's also currently one of the favorites to take home Sixth Man of the Year honors at +700.
As was the case with Brunson, there is now a growing concern that his production could end up leading him to a rather lucrative payday once eligible to enter free agency and, thus, price him out of Oklahoma City.
As Knicks fans are well aware, this is how New York was able to land the All-Star in the first place, as the franchise's $104 million offer was simply too much for the Dallas Mavericks to match.
For the sake of parity in the association, the hope is that Mitchell follows a similar trajectory to Brunson as far as being priced out of OKC is concerned, for, if he stays in tow and continues on with this similar level of play, the already dominant Thunder will become even more frightening over the many years to come, and the Knicks will be directly to blame for providing them even more firepower.