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Alec Test Article<br>
Alec Durbano
Jul 17, 2024
Knicks Favorites in Eastern Conference
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Highlights
Daily Automated BR2.0 Original No Replay After 15m No Blackout 2024-06-18 0615 UTC
Jalen Brunson, Knicks Ripped by NBA Twitter for Blowing Late Lead vs. Bulls
Dec 24, 2022
Chicago Bulls' DeMar DeRozan, third from right,, reacts after hitting the winning basket during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the New York Knicks, Friday, Dec. 23, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
The New York Knicks were tied with or leading the Chicago Bulls for all but four-tenths of a second in the second half Friday.
However, that's all the Bulls needed as DeMar DeRozan knocked down the game-winning jumper in the final second to lead his team to a 118-117 road win over the Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
It was a devastating loss for the Knicks, who wasted a season-high 44 points from RJ Barrett and a 29-point, 12-rebound outing from Julius Randle. The Knicks have dropped to 18-15 with their second consecutive loss after an eight-game winning streak.
This was a tough offensive night for Jalen Brunson, who shot 5-of-15 en route to 12 points. He dished out nine assists but also missed three of his four free throws, including a pair with 6.1 seconds remaining while the Knicks were up 117-116. DeRozan played some mind games with the 89.1 percent free-throw shooter beforehand.
DeRozan tried getting in Brunson's head to ice the game 🍿
Brunson went to the line with the Knicks up 117-116 and missed both FTs 😬 https://t.co/tkPv7x9lSK
Regardless of whether that had an effect on Brunson, the Knicks didn't make enough stops or shots down the stretch to win.
Quentin Grimes also missed a pair of free throws when the Knicks were up 115-112 a minute earlier. He shot just 3-of-11 from the field and served as the primary defender on DeRozan on the last shot after a switch. Guarding DeRozan in the mid-range is tough for anyone, though, and the longtime NBA veteran got the job done.
Brunson and Grimes have both played pivotal roles in helping the Knicks turn their season around after a sluggish 10-13 start, with the former arguably serving as the team's MVP this year after signing as a free agent from the Dallas Mavericks.
Still, this was a tough loss to stomach. NBA Twitter took notice, with some fans lamenting the loss and Brunson's late-game performance and others looking at the bigger picture.
Jalen Brunson shocked me tonight. He crumbled under pressure. That better be an anomaly
#Knicks fans turning on Brunson already, they turn on any1 that’s not a draft pick of theirs then wonder why no star wants to play for them. If I was a NBA star I’d love to come here sparingly, drop 40-50 +win, just to stick it to the most toxic NBA fan base. #antiknickstwitter
Knicks handed the bulls that game, disgusting late game execution, 11 missed freethrows, 4 consecutive missed freethrows with under a minute to go, a missed defensive rebound with seconds to go that lead to a layup. They lost this game 3 times. 18-15 got to win on Xmas
The New York Knicks must be big fans of the 2003 film Old School, because they're suddenly streaking
Derrick Rose Talks Knicks Trade Rumors, Bulls Jersey Retirement, NBA Ownership, More
Dec 20, 2022
New York Knicks guard Derrick Rose eyes a rebound during an NBA basketball game against the Dallas Mavericks, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
New York Knicks guard Derrick Rose sat down with Shams Charania of Stadium and The Athletic to discuss a host of topics, including adapting to his new role out of the team's rotation, trade rumors and post-career insights such as the possibility of the Chicago Bulls retiring his jersey and a desire to become an NBA governor.
Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau made the decision to move Miles "Deuce" McBride into the rotation off the bench in favor of the 34-year-old, whose NBA accolades include three All-Star Game appearances and the 2010-11 NBA MVP award.
It's an unusual role for Rose, who has always carved out a niche wherever he's gone despite dealing with significant injuries that curbed his sky-high ceiling when the Bulls selected him No. 1 overall in the 2008 NBA draft out of Memphis.
Still, Rose is taking the decision in stride, even though he made clear that he still wants to play.
"I've learned a simple lesson: Still being here," Rose said in part.
"For one, I'm very appreciative to understand my role. I'm not here for entitlement, I'm not here feeling like I need minutes or anything like that. I'm just here to win and try to help the young guys out. I never thought I'd be in this position. I never thought I'd be playing this many years."
Rose has been out of the rotation for seven games. He played three minutes and 31 seconds at the end of the Knicks' 114-91 road win over the Bulls on Dec. 16 and received thunderous applause from his old home fans when he entered the game and hit a three-pointer.
Born and raised in Chicago, Rose led the Bulls to their best season (2010-11) since the end of the Michael Jordan era. Chicago finished first in the Eastern Conference behind Rose's MVP season but lost to LeBron James and the Miami Heat in the conference finals.
He's still a legend in Chicago, however, and Charania brought up the possibility of his No. 1 being retired. Rose, who noted that he shies away from the fame, said in part:
"It's kind of awkward, where I feel it will be cool for my family to come to a jersey retirement ceremony like that. But I think about what would I have to say while I'm on the court. It's kind of weird. I'm there, but I think about, 'Damn, I'm going to have to speak to everybody at the celebration.' That's what I think about because I don't always like that moment."
For now, Rose still plays for a Knicks team that has won seven straight to move to 17-13 on the year. He holds a mentorship role for the young guards on the team (McBride, Jalen Brunson, Immanuel Quickley) despite being out of the rotation but noted that he's still prepared to return if his number is called.
"No, I want to play," Rose said. "But at the same time, there's still a lot of basketball left. Thibs (and I) always talk about it—he always says this is the bottom of the mountain, we got a whole mountain to climb. I just got to make sure that I'm always prepared."
Rose's name has popped up in traderumors and speculation, though, but he noted that the team has kept the lines of communication clear with him.
"The team is keeping communications open with me: When they told me I don't think that they want to move me like that, they know that I have a lot left, and they love my connection and relationship that I have with all of the players on the team," Rose said.
We'll find out if the Knicks decide to move Rose with the Feb. 9 trade deadline approaching, but as far as any post-career moves go, Rose appears interested in joining an ownership team.
"I'm into ownership," Rose said. "I feel like I saved up enough. It's not like I need a loan—I'm good. So I'm waiting. I'm waiting for my time."
For now, the Knicks will look for their eighth straight win when they host the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday evening.
Wally Szczerbiak Calls Tyrese Haliburton a 'Wannabe Fake All-Star' After Missed Shot
Dec 20, 2022
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - APRIL 23: Former NBA player, Wally Szczerbiak attends the game between the Memphis Grizzlies and the Minnesota Timberwolves during Round 1 Game 4 of the 2022 NBA Playoffs on April 23, 2022 at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2022 NBAE (Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images)
Wally Szczerbiak did not hold back when it came to Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton.
Haliburton missed a potential go-ahead jumper in the final seconds of Sunday's 109-106 loss to the New York Knicks. Szczerbiak, who works for the Knicks' television broadcasts, called Haliburton "mister supposed wannabe fake All-Star" before suggesting New York players are more deserving of making this season's All-Star Game (h/t Basket News).
"He's a very good player; he's not going to make the All-Star team," he said. "Guys like Julius Randle and Jalen Brunson will make it over Tyrese Haliburton, and tonight we saw why."
Haliburton finished with a double-double of 15 points and 10 assists, although he was just 5-of-16 from the field.
Still, he is very much in All-Star contention with averages of 19.5 points, a league-leading 10.7 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 1.7 steals for a Pacers team that is in position to make the play-in tournament at 15-16.
The 22-year-old has not achieved that honor yet but could be in line to make far more All-Star Games during his career than the one that Szczerbiak did during a 10-season career that included stints with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Boston Celtics, Seattle SuperSonics and Cleveland Cavaliers.
Knicks Rumors: Some NBA Free Agents Scared of Responsibility to 'Save' NY
Dec 16, 2022
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - DECEMBER 14: Jalen Brunson #11 of the New York Knicks dribbles up the court against the Chicago Bulls during the first half at United Center on December 14, 2022 in Chicago, Illinois. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
The New York Knicks have made the playoffs just once since the 2012-13 campaign when they reached the Eastern Conference semifinals, and they've been stuck in mediocrity since despite immense pressure to turn things around.
That type of pressure appears to be deterring some free agents from wanting to sign with the Knicks.
"It's almost become a thing around the league; is there a sense of urgency or is it just like every other year? Guys like [playing] there, but at least when it comes to free agents, there's a lot of, is someone gonna come save the Knicks? That scares some guys off."
The Knicks are desperate to make a deep playoff run, which is something they haven't done since they reached the Eastern Conference Finals in 2000. They reached the NBA Finals in 1999 but fell to the San Antonio Spurs and haven't won a title since 1973.
While some free agents are reportedly hesitant to sign with the Knicks, the team did manage to land point guard Jalen Brunson in free agency ahead of the 2022-23 campaign. Of course, Brunson's father is an assistant on Tom Thibodeau's staff, but the former Dallas Maverick has spoken openly about not feeling overwhelmed.
"For one, it's not really pressure to me," Brunson told reporters in September of playing in New York. "I'm just going out there and playing basketball the way I've played for a long time. And two, I'm just going to be myself. I'm ready to go. Whatever it takes."
Additionally, if free agents are going to sign in New York, the Knicks are going to explore every available option on the trade market. In fact, Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports reported Wednesday that the Knicks "have been described by league personnel as one of the more active teams in early trade conversations" this year.
As the franchise searches for upgrades to a roster that has underperformed this season, the Knicks have reportedly made Evan Fournier, Derrick Rose, Cam Reddish and Immanuel Quickley available.
It's unclear what type of return the team could get with those players. However, it has a surplus of draft capital over the next few drafts with nine total first-round picks in the next five drafts, which it could use to land top-tier talent.
If the Knicks are going to part with any of those picks, it must be for a player they believe can help change the trajectory of the franchise, otherwise it would be best to hold onto those picks to land some of the top players in the next several drafts and build for the future.
New York enters Friday's game against the Chicago Bulls sixth in the Eastern Conference with a 15-13 record. Things are trending upward for Thibodeau's squad, which has won five straight games.
New York Knicks' Jalen Brunson Signing Looks Like a Home Run
Dec 15, 2022
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - DECEMBER 14: Jalen Brunson #11 of the New York Knicks dribbles up the court against the Chicago Bulls during the first half at United Center on December 14, 2022 in Chicago, Illinois. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
For as much as the New York Knicks remain steeped in uncertainty, both now and over the long term, they have finally found a stabilizing force to ferry them through whatever unknowns still await.
The Knicks' steadying lifeline just so happens to be the "non-star" they "overpaid" during the 2022 offseason and had zero business signing—a career sidekick unfit to shoulder the usage of an offensive hub without a superior safety net alongside him.
The man is Jalen Brunson.
The 26-year-old has spent most of this season overturning first impressions and exposing misconceptions. His latest shoutout-to-the-haters masterpiece: a 30-point, seven-assist surgical takedown of the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday night, replete with a win-wrapping three that sent Alex Caruso to the floor...
Mind you, Brunson entered Wednesday night as questionable to play with a foot contusion. He ended by validating, yet again, the money ($104 million) and lengths (trades, tampering charges) New York traveled to get him.
The Knicks, meanwhile, have now rattled off five straight victories, their longest winning streak of the Tom Thibodeau era and, well, basically the last decade:
This run by New York features a bunch of different exclamation points, many of them experimental and, therefore, cathartic. Some even predate the winning streak, stretching all the way back to when yours truly made a plea for the Knicks to fire Thibodeau.
Julius Randle has been on a (predominantly early-game) offensive heater. RJ Barrett is hitting threes (37.9 percent during the winning streak). Quentin Grimes is starting—and defending his ass off.
Deuce McBride and Immanuel Quickley are getting real, live, actual backcourt minutes together. And New York is annihilating opponents when they team up with Grimes.
Evan Fournier and Derrick Rose aren't playing. Cam Reddish isn't, either. Which is weird when you consider Obi Toppin's right knee injury means there's one more vacant rotation spot floating around.
I don't know how to feel about the Isaiah Hartenstein-Jericho Sims frontcourt the Knicks are trotting out. Then again, anything remotely experimental from Thibs is a bold-text W. And he is seemingly resisting some of his most damning impulses—mainly leaning on veterans who don't help the Knicks win over youngsters who are actually good.
If he ever tables the urge to empower and allow hourslong Julius Randle iso possessions, then hot damn, I might just have to issue a full-fledged retraction of my early-November ethering.
New York's winning streak has also featured #TheReturn of its opposing-offense-frying defensive identity. And really, this is a reemergence weeks in the making. The Knicks are eighth in points allowed per possession since Nov. 15 and have the league's best defense during their five-game winning streak.
Some level of unlucky opponent three-point shooting must be baked into these returns. Rival offenses won't knock down 32.5 percent of their triples forever. (Probably.) But save for a few predictable individuals, the Knicks are defending with ball pressure and energy and an omnipresence on the glass and, yes, still fouling too often.
Through it all, there is Jalen Brunson.
Jalen Brunson already has 3 games with 30p/7a this season.
His scoring and shooting splits have actually slumped during New York's winning streak. Part of his value, though, lies in functional equilibrium. His lows are never rock-bottom plunges, and he will continue to maximize and uplift the offense even when he's not scoring.
Nobody on this roster has been as consistently good this season. And that's saying something when you consider the scale at which the Knicks depend on Brunson. His usage rate is far and away a career high, but his true shooting percentage continues to hover around the league average.
Brunson's overall efficiency stands to climb if he starts hitting threes at a higher clip. New York admittedly isn't built to decongest the half court and tee him up for gimmes away from the ball, but he has offset the drop-off with a career-high free-throw-attempt rate and personal-best conversion rate at the charity stripe.
The in-between havoc Brunson incites also remains intact. Defenses react when he ventures inside the arc, where his quirky footwork and body movement and overall cadence is absolutely lethal. Brunson leads the NBA in field goals made between five and nine feet and is shooting a combined 49.3 percent between five and 19 feet overall.
This all says nothing of his capacity to manage the game. It isn't just that Brunson's attack mode opens up opportunities for his teammates; it's that he protects possession with his poise.
New York's turnover rate improves by 5.5 percentage points with Brunson on the floor—the single largest bump in the league, bar none. This control isn't situational. It translates to even the highest-leverage moments.
Low-percentage jump shots and possessions to nowhere have permeated the Knicks' crunch-time operations since, like, forever. Brunson doesn't subscribe to habitual settling. It happens, because duh. Generally speaking, though, he can put set defenses into rotation on any given play, no matter how much time is left. And because he can, he does.
Though the Knicks aren't what you would call a clutch powerhouse, Brunson's stylistic dependability is paying huge dividends. He's notching a true shooting percentage of 61.4 on 32.9 percent usage in crunch time—with a turnover rate south of five. Just two other players are doing the same through at least five appearances: Kevin Durant and Jimmy Butler.
The Brunson discourse will soon start to shift toward the All-Star conversation and whether he belongs in it. He probably does. Devin Booker, Luka Dončić, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Damian Lillard are the only other guards averaging 20-plus points and six-plus assists while hitting over 50 percent of their twos and matching Brunson's free-throw-attempt rate. And they all hail from the Western Conference.
2022-23 Eastern Conference All-Stars, per TPA
Starters Donovan Mitchell Tyrese Haliburton Kevin Durant Giannis Antetokounmpo Jayson Tatum
Bench Jalen Brunson Trae Young Joel Embiid Jimmy Butler Pascal Siakam Brook Lopez Dejounte Murray pic.twitter.com/gAUgpEzaa7
To be clear: This doesn't render Brunson an All-Star formality. But it does demand that he enter the running.
Not that it particularly matters. Brunson's performance for the Knicks is bigger than a one-off achievement. It's more like a vindication for both parties.
Skeptics panned New York for signing Brunson. Select folks suffered from sticker shock when they saw the four-year, $104 million agreement. That was always shortsighted. Brunson is the 24th-highest-paid guard in the league, his contract declines before leveling off in years three and four, and the salary cap only goes up from here. The deal was fine then, and let's be honest, it's a friggin' steal at the moment.
Others got caught up in the pretzel-twisting New York did to get here. That includes me. I rated Brunson as the fifth-worst contract from a front office perspective after the first week of free agency. Perhaps the opportunity costs of dredging up cap space to get him was fine (it was), but there was and still is something unsettling about a franchise knowingly making Brunson its best player. It is a move that screams "Addicted to the middle."
That concern endures today. That also doesn't mean I nor anyone else who framed the Brunson contract in that light was right. We were not. I was wrong. I'd like to think it was a nuanced miss, but it was a miss all the same.
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - DECEMBER 09: Jalen Brunson #11 of the New York Knicks brings the ball up court during the third quarter of the game against the Charlotte Hornets at Spectrum Center on December 09, 2022 in Charlotte, North Carolina. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by David Jensen/Getty Images)
Brunson does little to clarify the Knicks' present or future. They are not on the fast track to title contention nor acquiring another star or two because of him. He is not that player.
What Brunson has done, though, is offer New York scalable stability. He gives the offense direction, an equal parts scoring hub and distributor, without infringing upon the development or opportunity of those around him.
And this is blanket security without condition. Brunson may need to shape-shift depending on what path and form the Knicks take next. That's fine. His is a style wired to optimize rather than monopolize.
Call him a floor-raiser if you must. To the Knicks, specifically, he's something more: certainty amid a long line of unknowns.
Dan Favale covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter (@danfavale), and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, co-hosted by Bleacher Report's Grant Hughes.
The New York Knicks have already encountered their fair share of ups and downs during the 2022-23 NBA season. However, they've also shown enough to believe—or,...
