Is Brunson the best Knick since Ewing?

[durantbird]

Is Jalen Brunson the best Knicks player since prime Patrick Ewing?

Some other names worthy to consider:
Allan Houston
Latrell Sprewell
Carmelo Anthony
Amare Stoudemire
Stephon Marbury
Kristaps Porzingis
Others that I've probably forgotten

[Tomtolbert]

He's probably right up there with Anthony.

[Fundamentals21]

He's not as good as Melo, but probably right up there with Starbury.

[SickMother]

No love for LINSANITY?

[falcolombardi]

Why not

[RCM88x]

Straight up he's probably better than Melo was in '13 imo but relative to the rest of the league Melo was probably a little better that year.

[Eagle4]

I'd personally take '13 Melo over Brunson as good as hes been.

[tsherkin]

13 and 14 Melo were pretty good on O. Brunson is roughly matching the scoring volume and is a considerably better playmaker, so his impact is similar, but due to the league environment, him rocking 58.8% TS is only +0.7% rTS, which takes some of the luster off compared to how Carmelo's 56.0% was +2.5%.

*shrug*

Net impact on O is similar enough, though. It's sort of the Derrick Rose routine, you know? Bleh volume scoring relative to the league on a team which needs it, but playmaking taking the impact onward and upward. Could make a decent argument either way in a vacuum, but I think Brunson is better for this Knicks team than would Melo be, and I don't think that any grand revelation.

Now, if you put Brunson in 2013 and he replicated these exact numbers, he'd be a +5.3% rTS guy AND the better playmaker, and even if you took a few percentage points off of Brunson's finishing inside the arc and shaved a bit off his FTr, he's still an easy book for 55%+ TS back in 2013 due to his shooting ability.

Tough call. Era and positional/role differences make these things not line up super well. Melo was basically having one of the best seasons of his career in both 2013 and 2014 regular seasons, so it's a good comparison and fun to think about, regardless.

[BlackThought]

He's either the best or second best Knicks point guard next to Walt Frazier.

[70sFan]

He's either the best or second best Knicks point guard next to Walt Frazier.

He's definitely not better than Frazier.

[tsherkin]

He's either the best or second best Knicks point guard next to Walt Frazier.

He's definitely not better than Frazier.

Yeah, he has some big playoff moments en route to a title to overcome first.

[Colbinii]

He's either the best or second best Knicks point guard next to Walt Frazier.

He's definitely not better than Frazier.

Yeah he is about as good as Frazier...during the 1974 and 1975 seasons.

[TroubleS0me]

He's not as good as Melo, but probably right up there with Starbury.

Brunson's playoff performance last year was better than anything Melo did in the playoffs for the Knicks.

[TroubleS0me]

I'd personally take '13 Melo over Brunson as good as hes been.

even though Melo underperformed in the playoffs that year? hmm

[70sFan]

He's either the best or second best Knicks point guard next to Walt Frazier.

He's definitely not better than Frazier.

Yeah he is about as good as Frazier...during the 1974 and 1975 seasons.

I can give him 1975 Frazier vibes.

[Texas Chuck]

Melo wasn't even the best player on the best of those Knicks teams. So yeah I'd have Brunson ahead of him for sure. And if we are only worried about scoring then Randle probably deserves as much consideration as Melo and likely more for that matter.

[tsherkin]

Melo wasn't even the best player on the best of those Knicks teams. So yeah I'd have Brunson ahead of him for sure. And if we are only worried about scoring then Randle probably deserves as much consideration as Melo and likely more for that matter.

Worth some thinking, that.

Melo was at 56.0 and 56.1% TS in 2013 and 2014. 105 and 104 TS+. Randle is at 56.9% in 2024, which is 98 TS+. He WAS doing much better in December and January, of course (62.9% and 58.9% TS over 14 and 14 games), so he might have rocked that on the season. But he also traded high-end 2FG% in December for 36.9% on 6 3PA/g in January after shooting 27.4% over the previous 28 games (on 4.8 3PA/g). So a couple of little hot streaks, making it hard to get a bead on what he could reliably do for the remainder of the season.

It was getting interesting, though, for sure.

Who do you consider better than Melo on those teams? Felton? Tyson Chandler? JR Smith? Jason Kidd in 26.9 mpg? Andrea Bargnani? Iman Shumpert?

[Texas Chuck]

Chandler was better for sure. Kidd wasn't. Yet once again here is Kidd joining a team and they immediately get way better.

[Bidofo]

Chandler was better for sure. Kidd wasn't. Yet once again here is Kidd joining a team and they immediately get way better.

How was Chandler better 'for sure' in your eyes? The only argument I can possibly think of is a 'portability' one where Chandler would theoretically slot better next to other star players...because Melo definitely had the most impact on that specific 2013 team, as many warts as he had.

I'm not sure the portability argument works either. Would Chandler retain more of his impact compared to Melo on a team that already has 2 perimeter stars, sure. Is the actual value of the impact greater, no idts.

Brunson clears both though.

[Statlanta]

Not peak but definitely and argument for prime