Can Knicks’ Jalen Brunson Be Best Player for Champion?

Jalen Brunson is the face of the New York Knicks, and there’s no doubt about it.

Brunson’s first two seasons with the Knicks has seen him emerge into one of the best players in the league and the team has improved with his efforts.

That’s why HoopsHype writers Frank Urbina and Raul Barrigon have listed Brunson as the eighth-best player in the NBA.

“New York Knicks star point guard Jalen Brunson had already shown signs of being a great player in 2022-23. In 2023-24, however, the two-time national champion at Villanova proved that he’s unquestionably an elite one, finishing Top 5 in the MVP vote, leading the Knicks to the second round of the playoffs and earning 2nd Team All-NBA honors,” HoopsHype writes. “There may still be some discourse on whether or not Brunson can be the best player on a championship team, but considering his selflessness in taking less money now to sign an extension in New York, which will help the Knicks keep contending in the East for years to come, Brunson might be able to shut that talk down and prove it without a doubt in the coming seasons.”

The players listed ahead of Brunson are Anthony Edwards (Minnesota Timberwolves), Jayson Tatum (Boston Celtics), Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers), Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Oklahoma City Thunder), Luka Doncic (Dallas Mavericks) and Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets).

All of the players ahead of Brunson have either led their team to the No. 1 seed, Conference Finals or won an MVP, three things the Knicks point guard has come close to, but has yet to achieve.

This means that there is another gear that Brunson needs to kick into in order to be seen as one of the elite players in the game. That being said, team success plays a part in all of those players’ individual accolades, and Brunson’s affordable contract extension will allow the Knicks to spend more on players around him to make the team better as a whole.

So while Brunson has yet to prove that he can be the best player on an NBA champion, there’s plenty of reason to believe that he can.

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