Jalen Brunson had an insane run with the Dallas Mavericks as the No. 2 scoring option behind superstar Luka Doncic. During the postseason, he averaged 21.6 PPG, 4.6 RPG, and 3.7 APG.
As a result of his postseason performance, the New York Knicks ended up signing Jalen Brunson to a lucrative contract, worth nearly $110 million over four years. There is no doubt that he’ll be a solid player for them at the PG position, and it’ll be interesting to see how he does as a full-time floor general.
Twitter page Legion Hoops has recently posted an interesting fact about Jalen Brunson, revealing that he is the first player in NBA history to sign a deal worth $100 million or more with a new team without ever getting selected to an All-Star game. While it is true that Jalen Brunson has never made an All-Star team, if he can sustain the performances he had in the playoffs over the course of an entire season with the Knicks, it’s definitely a possibility.
Jalen Brunson is the first player in NBA history to sign a $100M+ deal with a new team despite never being an All-Star.
(via @ESPNStatsInfo) pic.twitter.com/Ghd1RlbNeb
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) July 6, 2022
It remains to be seen how well the New York Knicks do as a team next year. They have a solid young core featuring RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley, and Mitchell Robinson, and with Jalen Brunson as their leader, there’s a solid chance that they’ll be a play-in tier team going forward. They could even make the playoffs. As of now, it is clear, is that the New York Knicks are trying to make shrewd additions to their roster like Jalen Brunson while also prioritizing the development of their young core. RJ Barrett in particular had a very good second half of the season, and his becoming a star-level player in the future will be key for the franchise.
Hopefully, we see the New York Knicks become a competitive playoff team once again. They were the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference during the 2020-21 season, and perhaps they will get back to the postseason at some point in the near future.
