The Jalen Brunson Signing Was the Best Move of the NBA Offseason

On Tuesday night, the New York Knicks beat the Indiana Pacers 119-113 at home thanks almost entirely to the grit and tenacity of their new star point guard, Jalen Bruson.

Jalen Brunson could be on Broadway with this kind of footwork pic.twitter.com/vSn3ESkiBj

— Mike Vorkunov (@MikeVorkunov) January 12, 2023

Here’s what Brunson was able to do against the Pacers:

42 minutes
34 points
11-for-20 shooting (55%)
3-for-4 from 3
9-for-9 from the line
3 rebounds
4 assists
+7

This was Jalen Brunson’s EIGHTH 30-point game this season. His 34-point game is coming off the heels of a career-high 44-point game against the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday night. For some reason, his name remains absent from All-Star conversations when he is making it quite clear that he is one of the best point guards in the NBA.

So let’s give him his flowers right here and right now—starting with acknowledging that the signing of Jalen Brunson was the biggest move of the offseason.

The New York Knicks have been desperate for a point guard for what feels like my entire life. A floor general who can initiate the offense effectively, penetrate the paint forcing the defense to react and rotate and potentially make mistakes and just a guy who can dribble the ball without looking down at their feet.

Last season, Tom Thibodeau had Alec Burks out there trying to play point guard following the sudden and immediate end of Kemba Walker being an effective NBA player. Burks is a shooting guard who should never be tasked with running an offense because his brain is not programmed to be a playmaker.

I don’t even want to dive into the season before with Elfrid Payton who might literally be the worst NBA player I’ve ever witnessed. He had no idea how to shoot a basketball, which as you can imagine, is a problem for a professional basketball player.

In the 2019-20 season, Elfrid Payton made 14 3-pointers. In 2020. Not back in 1991. In 2020, Elfrid Payton made 14 fucking 3-pointers and played almost 30 minutes a game. Let’s just keep going before I shed a tear. Why was I watching this every night? Brunson has 67 3’s and it’s only January.

Thanks to Knicks team president, Leon Rose, and former agent of Jalen Brunson’s father Rick—who is also currently an assistant coach on the team—for seeing what Jalen was doing in Dallas and investing 4-years and $104 million into the best Knicks point guard of the last decade.

Jalen Brunson’s impact has been instant. He is one of the most clutch players in the league. Clutch time is when a game score is within 5 points with 5 minutes or less left in the game. Last season, the Knicks finished 29th in offensive rating in clutch time. So far this year, the Knicks are 9th in that same category and Jalen Brunson is 6th in the league in clutch points.

When the game is on the line, the Knicks finally have a guy you trust with the ball instead of Julius Randle who often looks visibly overwhelmed and tends to get either stripped or dribbles off his own feet.

Brunson taking the ball away from Randle and subsequently taking away Randle’s opportunities to make atrocious decisions makes Jalen indispensable.

He also brings a toughness and a noticeable confidence that was missing from this roster. Tom Thibodeau can’t play his guys 40 minutes of intense defense without dogs like Joakim Noah and Jimmy Butler on the roster. You need assholes who will bark in a defender’s face when he dots their eyes from 3. RJ Barrett and Mitchell Robinson are too laid back. Jalen Brunson is the swag provider for the Knicks.

The only offseason acquisition that comes close to the signing of Jalen Brunson is Donovan Mitchell to the Cavs and even then—Cleveland only has 3 more wins than the Knicks right now. Plus, Cleveland gave up soon-to-be All-Star, Lauri Markennen as well as 3 unprotected first-round picks to get Mitchell while the Knicks are UNDERPAYING Brunson with that $104 million contract.

As long as he remains healthy, the Knicks have a shot to win any game against any team. I haven’t been able to say that with confidence since Jason Kidd’s old drunk ass was running pick n rolls with Tyson Chandler.