New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson had a magnificent scoring season last year, averaging 28.7 points per game, the fourth-best of any NBA player. Entering the 2024-25 season, the Knicks have added depth, adding Mikal Bridges via trade and returning several key players from injuries.
The team is expected to be one of the league’s best next season. However, with so many options spread across the floor, players will have to sacrifice shot attempts, and that could include Brunson. Last season, the All-Star guard quickly blossomed into an elite scorer and carried the load for a Knicks team that battled injuries on the roster, but the style of play he adopted in the midst of it all could change next season.
Fred Katz of The Athletic said that with Bridges’ arrival, Brunson’s scoring could drop, allowing the newcomer to get a fair share of touches on the floor:
“There’s a world in which Brunson’s scoring is down this season, and it’s not because he got worse over the summer,” Katz wrote. “The Knicks don’t just have more mouths to feed than they did in their season of attrition. They also have more skill on the perimeter. They can pull off looks they couldn’t in 2023-24. And that starts with their biggest addition of the offseason: Bridges.
“Somewhere inside Madison Square Garden is a happy medium for a wing who has been either under- or overextended over the course of his seven-year career.”