Scouts and teammates discuss what Knicks can expect from Jalen Brunson: 'He's a winner'

Jalen Brunson has plenty of ties to the current Knicks organization. He’s known head coach Tom Thibodeau for most of his life. Leon Rose, too.

His dad, Rick Brunson, is an assistant coach.

And then there’s Derrick Rose.

Years before Brunson became the breakout star of the 2022 NBA Playoffs, he was a star at Stevenson High School in Illinois. He lived about 30 miles outside of Chicago.

Sometimes, he’d go to the United Center to see his dad – then an assistant with the Chicago Bulls. He’d also go into the locker room to spend time with Rose and the players.

Brunson got “a lot of words of encouragement” from Rose, who won MVP as a rookie point guard in 2011.

Fast forward ten years later, and Rose is backing up Brunson at point guard in his first season in New York.

It’s another full-circle thing for Brunson and this Knicks team. But the 26-year-old doesn’t have much time to reminisce these days, whether it's about Derrick Rose, Leon Rose, or anyone else.

“It’s special. But I’m doing everything in my power to not really think about it like that,” Brunson said earlier this week. “I just want to treasure this time to be the best teammate that I can be, be the best learner I can be. Still be a student of the game. Learning from him, you can learn a lot.”

Brunson’s basketball-above-everything attitude has been apparent early on in his first Knicks training camp. And it seems to be benefiting his teammates. Several Knicks have talked about Brunson’s value as a leader/calming influence on and off the court.

“He’s a really good player, obviously. But he’s a good person, a good human being at the core of him,” Julius Randle said. “I said it day one, he’s going to be great for our team but he’s going to be even better for our locker room.”

“He’s definitely a leader,” RJ Barrett added. “...There’s been times (when) he comes over to me and we have good interaction. We have good communication between him and I. I think that’s starting to become contagious. Just throughout the team. So it’s been really good.”

Brunson has only played three preseason games as a Knick, so anyone who tells you that they know that he’ll succeed or fail in New York is lying to you.

But the early evidence is encouraging, at least.

The Knicks had 25 assists in their preseason opener against the Detroit Pistons. They had 27 against the Indiana Pacers last Friday. They struggled with turnovers against Indiana on Wednesday. But for a team that ranked in the bottom five in assists-per 100 possessions last season, the overall results have been positive.

No Knick has averaged more than 15 shots per game so far. Barrett, Randle, Obi Toppin, Immanuel Quickley and Brunson are all averaging between 10-15 shots per game entering Friday’s preseason finale against Washington.

“We’re in the mode of not really caring who gets the credit,” Brunson said. “That’s a great way to approach, especially coming into the regular season. We’ve got to keep thinking like that. Individual success can come from team success. If we win, we do things like that, things can happen individually that we want.”

Brunson has talked a lot about a team-first, ‘we above me’ approach since joining the Knicks. Regardless of what happens on the court, if he can help establish that identity with the Knicks this season, it would be a significant contribution.

New York hopes that Brunson and the other young players can thrive this season as the club continues to be aggressive in its pursuit of top talent.

Last season’s Knicks didn’t seem to have that all-for-one approach.

Coming off of an All-Star season, Randle was the team’s engine in 2021-22. But the engine wasn’t running as well as it had in 2020-21.

This year, the Knicks don’t have to ask Randle to shoulder the offensive load. With Brunson running the offense, the ball should move well and the points should come from up and down the rotation if things are clicking.

“We might not have a Kawhi Leonard or someone like that, but we have a lot of great guys who can really help us win,” Isaiah Hartenstein said. “That’s really the only way we can really win is if we play together and play hard together. We’ve been doing that, getting better and better and I’m excited for the season.”

You’ve probably heard statements like that from past teams. They sound great. But they often ring hollow once the games start. The Knicks seemed to have that team-first approach two years ago. They didn’t have it last season, for the most part.

Can they re-establish it this season? Brunson knows that what he does on and off the court will be a major factor in the answer to that question.

“I gotta be a leader. I gotta be a leader. I’ve got to lead by example. I’ve got to lead vocally. I can’t miss a beat,” Brunson said. “If I miss a beat, that’s on me and I’m putting my team at a disadvantage. So I don’t have to be perfect. I’m not going to make every single shot, I’m not going to do all that stuff. I’m going to make mistakes.

"But it’s how do I respond to those mistakes, how do I respond to different situations. Am I going to sulk? Or am I going to move on to the next play and have short-term memory and try to just be the best I can be the next play.”

Evaluators for two opposing teams who watched Brunson with the Knicks came away impressed.

“He’s a winner, he’s hard to guard, so unorthodox,” one said. “He will really help them.”

“I’ve loved him since he was at Villanova,” another said. “He’s going to elevate all those guys, help everyone be at their best. They don’t have the talent (to compete in the East), but he’ll help get the best out of them.”

If those evaluators are right, Brunson will be worth every penny of the four-year $106 million deal he inked with the Knicks over the summer.

For now, Brunson’s focus is on helping the Knicks build winning habits. Next week, it will be on winning games.

Just don’t expect Brunson to spend too much time thinking about his family ties to the Knicks, whether it’s Leon Rose, Derrick Rose or anyone else. He’s more concerned with the task that lies ahead.

“One thing I’ve kind of learned as I’ve grown up in my basketball career is that anything that you achieve in the past is not really going to help you going forward," Brunson said. "So anything I’ve achieved, anything I’ve gone through, good or bad – you have to kind of put it past you and say ‘Alright what can I do now to improve?’

“Obviously you can learn from things. But just continue to have that mindset of the next day, you’ve got to get better. That’s just how I’ve been and I want to continue to think that way.”