Jalen Brunson has emerged as the face of the Knicks, and he is currently an All-Star.
It will be Jalen Brunson’s first-ever All-Star appearance. A wonderful accomplishment he should be proud of for the rest of his life.
Technically speaking, an All-Star nomination is meant to signify that a player is among the top 25 in the league, but some may interpret it as a prize for being one of the season’s biggest stars.
Is Brunson currently ranked among the top 25 NBA players?
Scouting report on Jalen Brunson: offensive
“Control” is the word that best describes Brunson’s attacking style if one were to choose. Brunson refuses to let the game find him. The terms of engagement are set by him.
Only the NBA’s usage monarchs, Luka Doncic and Trae Young, have spent more time with the ball in their hands than Brunson this season, according to NBA.com. This is partly a matter of need. There isn’t really a better alternative for the New York Knicks than Brunson helio-ball. But Brunson’s ability to manage the pieces on the board and consistently make the proper choice is largely responsible for this.
In order to unleash his trademark short midrange floaters, Brunson uses his handling, strength, and footwork to get as deep into the paint as his diminutive stature will allow. As per Cleaning the Glass, when it comes to point guards’ short midrange accuracy (50%) Brunson is in the 80th percentile.
When you have complete control over your body, you can use that skill to deceive your adversaries. Brunson tricks defences into foolish fouls with a variety of deftly executed pump fakes and body flails. similar to thisAccording to Dunks & Threes, Brunson ranks in the 94th percentile of all NBA players with an average of 6.5 free throw attempts per 75 possessions throughout the season. He can make up for his below-average rim frequency (36th percentile among point guards) and accuracy (42nd percentile) by frequently landing a place on the free throw line.
His ability to maintain his dribble while scouting the court is another one of his microskills. As his attacking prowess has increased and more opponents have started to assign double teams to him, this has become more and more valuable.
Because of his size, Brunson finds it more difficult to look past these doubles (more on this in a moment). He can dribble for longer than the other player, though, so he can keep the second defender hooked to him long enough to thoroughly examine the pieces on the battlefield. Side note: If you find yourself doubled and stop dribbling, the other defender can switch back to their original assignment and you won’t have to pay the power play tax that you originally gave up by choosing to double. The second defender must stay with you for a longer period of time the longer you dribble.)
Additionally, Brunson can move away from the ball and contribute as a spacer, unlike many ball-dominant floor generals of the past. According to the Thinking Basketball database, Brunson is hitting 44% of his wide-open threes over the past three years (88th percentile).
Even while some of the capabilities are more advanced than others, none of the previously listed abilities are new for Brunson this year. However, he has maintained his scoring efficiency, going from an average of 25.4 points per 75 (94th percentile) to 28.3 points per 75 (98th percentile). How do you feel about that?
Brunson is well known for his exceptional work ethic. You don’t become that good, at that size, without surpassing the competition, after all.
In any case, Brunson had to improve his 3-point shooting volume going into the offseason to offset his poor rim totals. As expected, Brunson made the required effort and succeeded. He averaged just 5.0 threes per 75 in 2022–2023 (50th percentile), but this year he’s hitting a career-high 6.7 threes per 75 (72nd percentile).
His pull-up three-point shooting has increased the most, going from 1.8 pull-ups per 36 minutes (69th percentile) to 2.5 pull-ups per 36 minutes (80th percentile). Brunson has been able to raise his scoring volume without seeing a decrease in his total scoring efficiency thanks to this increase in 3-point volume (while retaining 3-point efficiency).
In addition to his problems with rim pressure, Brunson isn’t the best playmaker. Brunson’s height restricts some of his passing reads even with his dribbling prowess (first clip in the montage below). On his drives, he also has a propensity to be a little too score-focused, which might lead him to choose tough shots over passes to open teammates (second clip). Brunson’s drive pass percentage (36.4%) is just in the 42nd percentile out of the 196 players this year who average at least three drives per game and have participated in at least 20 games.He is still among the world’s finest offensive players despite not being an exceptional passer. Even though they don’t have a wealth of offensive talent, the Knicks rank 94th in terms of offensive rating when Brunson plays. Furthermore, in terms of Offensive Estimated Plus-Minus (OFF EPM), Brunson is tenth in the entire NBA.
Scouting report on Jalen Brunson: defence
If you missed it the first few times we brought it up, Brunson is a small guy (6’2) in a sport that is favoured by giants. This undoubtedly impacts his defence. Watch as Kris Dunn’s greater strength and size, despite Dunn’s lack of size, render Brunson’s good defence useless!Despite this, Brunson doesn’t let his limitations of his biology hold him back. Not just because of the way he taps his hands, Brunson is like a prize boxer. He’s a vicious warrior who isn’t afraid to go up against stronger opponents in the paint, treating them like the next Kyle Lowry. Take note of how hard he attempts to prevent Dillon Brooks from using the mismatch post-up, which is one of the best post-up strategies:The main problem with Brunson’s player type—an offensively-charged, diminutive guard—is that they frequently become a moving target when playing defence throughout the postseason. When it came to Defensive Estimated Plus-Minus (DEF EPM), Brunson performed in the sixth percentile last season, fulfilling the prophecy.
Right now, he’s in the 48th percentile, which is close to league average. He doubled down on his best defensive weapon, drawing charges, which is mostly to blame. Brunson is already up to 24 charges in 51 games this year, which ties him for the league record with rookie Brandin Podziemski. Last year, Brunson forced 27 charges in 68 games. For those who are curious, by the end of the regular season, he should have 36 charges if he continues at his present rate.
(Sidebar #2: Despite Brunson’s 98th percentile minutes per game this season, head coach Tom Thibodeau’s renowned tendency to ride his starters hard has occasionally caused the southpaw to falter in his defensive effort.)
All things considered, Brunson remains a below-average defender. However, he is a more adept defender than some of the other players in his archetype because of his physicality and cunning (i.e., Damian Lillard, Trae Young, and Tyrese Haliburton).
In summary
In 2023–2024, you can achieve great success by combining a top-notch offensive with a defence that is acceptable overall (for his position) but below average overall.
According to EPM, which is likely the strongest publicly accessible one-number metric available, Brunson is ranked 14th overall in the NBA. Brunson is ranked eighteenth by Basketball Reference’s BPM. Additionally, The Ringer ranks him as the fifteenth best basketball player in their top-100 rankings.
The way he is listed in these databases essentially sums up Brunson’s position among the league’s leadership. As of right now, Brunson is a reliable All-Star/fringe All-NBA player. Personally, I can only think of 17–18 NBA players that are currently unquestionably superior to Brunson.
Taking everything into account, Brunson is probably not 25 times better than any other person in the world. He appears to be very deserving of his All-Star selection.
