With new roster dynamics, Jalen Brunson confident Knicks can make necessary sacrifices

The Knicks put together quite a show to celebrate Jalen Brunson’s captaincy on Thursday.

There was Patrick Ewing narrating a video montage of Brunson’s Knicks highlights mixed with footage of Brunson, as a kid, hanging around Ewing’s Knicks teams.

There was video of Derek Jeter, Mark Messier and other New York sports legends congratulating Brunson on his captaincy.

Knicks owner James Dolan was front row for the event. Ewing was on hand with Allan Houston and John Starks.

Mikal Bridges and Miles McBride were among a group of teammates at Madison Square Garden for the ceremony. As you’d expect, Knicks president Leon Rose, executive vice president William Wesley and head coach Tom Thibodeau were there.

Toward the end of the celebration, the Knicks presented Brunson with a $20,000 check for his charity, Second Round Foundation.

As MSG’s Alan Hahn was announcing the amount of the check, Brunson joked “for $113 million?”

The difference between the extension Brunson signed this summer and the max contract he could have signed next season is $113 million.

Amid the jokes, Brunson spoke earnestly about why he signed a $156 million extension this summer instead of waiting next summer to ink a five-year, $270 million deal.

That financial sacrifice will obviously help the Knicks add to this roster and avoid the punitive second apron in the current CBA.

But that’s not the only sacrifice the Knicks need to reach their goals during the Brunson era.

They will also need significant sacrifices from players up and down the roster. This is a team that played the final four months of the season without Julius Randle. They will have to incorporate both Randle and Bridges into a rotation that relied heavily on Donte DiVincenzo and Josh Hart last season. Will Hart and DiVincenzo play the same roles this season?

That seems unlikely with Randle and Bridges on the roster.

So this team will rely heavily on players sacrificing minutes and shots for the greater good. Most NBA teams and players talk about putting the team ahead of themselves. These Knicks will have to live that ethos day in and day out to reach their potential. It’s a difficult balance to strike in any industry, particularly in the high-stakes world of the NBA.

Brunson, for one, believes this group can handle the task.

“Absolutely, I think it starts with me and I think Julius has the character and the mindset to do it. I think most importantly, it’s just us going out there and being a team and knowing that on any given night… there’s going to be someone who’s obviously the hot hand,” Brunson said. “How can we be the best teammates possible to put ourselves in the best position to win?

“I’m not saying that we need to chop everything off. Like, ‘alright, you can’t do this and you can’t do that.’ No, let’s just do whatever it takes to win as a team and then we go on and move on after that. We have the character and we have the guys who are willing to do that.”

MATHIAS?

Mathias Lessort is part of the French national team that will face Team USA for the gold medal on Saturday. Lessort has averaged nearly 10 rebounds per 40 minutes in the Olympics for Team France. The Knicks own Lessort’s draft rights as part of a draft-night trade in 2020.

Did the Knicks consider Lessort as they were searching for depth on the front line earlier this offseason? They did. New York inquired about Lessort’s interest in signing but the player and team were unable to find common ground. The Knicks still have an open spot on their 15-man roster.