Jalen Brunson is having quite a season for the New York Knicks. Brunson has been the Knicks’ rock since their season opener. His elite scoring carried New York through a rough early stretch, fueled their 12-2 run in the month of January, and has helped keep them alive while injuries recently ravished their roster.
The Villanova product’s efforts earned him his first All-Star nod this year. They also have him positioned to add hardware to his awards collection come season’s end.
Knicks’ Jalen Brunson has made a strong case for 2024 All-NBA honors
Bleacher Report’s Dan Favale named Brunson to their All-NBA Third Team. He justified his placement by saying:
“Brunson is not an A-plus passer or more than a resistant defender. But he is one of the most unique, important, and offensive engines in the entire league. And yes, he plays a lot. He’s top-10 in total minutes logged. That availability cannot be discounted,” Favale mentioned.
Brunson’s 27.2 points per game on 47.7% shooting from the field and 40.7% shooting from deep leaves little room to doubt his efficacy as a volume scorer.
In spite of that, his 117.2 defensive rating does leave something to be desired, especially on one of the strongest defensive units in the league.
Oklahoma City Thunder All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (109.8) and Cleveland Cavaliers lead man Donovan Mitchell (110.1) are second and third in the department among all NBA guards. They also just so happen to be ahead of the Knicks’ franchise player in Favale’s rankings.
Can Brunson edge out a formidable ensemble of guards for an All-NBA nod?
Gilgeous-Alexander and Luka Doncic (Dallas Mavericks) are situated as their First Team members while Mitchell and Devin Booker (Phoenix Suns) are on the Second Team.
It may be too little, too late for Brunson to catch up to the First Team honorees in scoring, but he’s on par with Mitchell and Booker and can win over voters should he spearhead a late-season Knicks surge.
Barring catastrophe, Brunson has a great chance to be named to one of the three teams. The Knicks’ record will likely be the deciding factor in which team he lands on.