Knicks All-Star named the NBA’s No. 8 best player heading into next season

New York Knicks All-Star Jalen Brunson has consistently elevated his game year in and year out, and that has earned him placement as a top-10 player in the NBA heading into the 2024-25 NBA season. Where Brunson placed, and who he ranked above are food for thought in anticipation of just how great he can be on the upcoming campaign.

Jalen Brunson came in at No. 8 in Top 100 NBA players ranking

Frank Urbina and Raul Barrigon of HoopsHype made a list, “Ranking: The Top 100 Players in the NBA for 2024-25” and had Brunson at No. 8 overall, saying this in part about why he deserved such an appraisal (h/t Jonah Morgan of Star Local Media):

“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,” Urbina and Barrigan published.

“Brunson’s strong 2023-24 regular season and his even more impressive playoff run, in which he averaged 32.4 points and 7.5 assists over 13 games, has us thinking big things for soon-to-be-28-year-old in 2024-25.”

Will Brunson have a more impactful season than Kevin Durant & Steph Curry?

There was a litany of superstars and All-Stars that Brunson came in ahead of. The three most glaring ones were Phoenix Suns four-time scoring champion Kevin Durant (No. 11), Los Angeles Lakers four-time MVP LeBron James (No. 13) and Golden State Warriors four-time champion Steph Curry (No. 14), all former league and NBA Finals MVP’s still playing at that caliber at their advanced ages.

More importantly, the Villanova product also got the nod over the premier point guards in the Eastern Conference, including All-Stars Tyrese Haliburton of the Indiana Pacers (No. 12) and Tyrese Maxey of the Philadelphia 76ers (No. 15).

The New Jersey native achieved an MVP-quality stat line of 28.7 points, 6.7 assists and 3.6 rebounds a night on 47.9 percent shooting from the field and 40.1 percent shooting from three-point range, but did so while taking a whopping 21.4 shots a game. Now that Mikal Bridges is in town and Julius Randle, as well as OG Anunoby, are healthy, the more mouths to feed on the Knicks will likely lead to Brunson’s field goal attempts reducing to the 18-19 FGA per game ballpark.

Thus, his scoring could also take a slight downturn, but with that, the 28-year-old could also see a rise in his assist numbers. What his star-studded supporting cast won’t do is hinder his ability to dominate down the stretch of games, as he did in the last regular season and playoffs.

If his clutch scoring of 3.5 PPG, which was seventh-most in the regular season, and 6.1 PPG, which ranked No. 1 among all 2024 playoff performers who played in at least four games with clutch situations down the stretch, follows him into the 2024-25 campaign, Brunson will be one of the best players in the league again, as is expected of him.

Those efficiency, clutch, distribution, and volume-scoring numbers would also be enough to eliminate any thoughts of his 2023-24 outing being a fluke and legitimize him being in the same breath as the All-Stars and all-time greats he was forecasted to outdo next time out.