Knicks Star Considered Best Pick From Draft Class

Jalen Brunson's status as the best player from the 2018 NBA Draft is still something of a long shot, but where he was selected compared to the value he'd end up providing has given him a much more compelling case as the most valuable of his classmates.

CBS Sports certainly wanted to show the former Dallas Mavericks prospect-turned-New York Knicks star some love in this category, considering him as 2018's best pick in running through the most valuable selections of every year in the latest edition of their pieces commemorating the first quarter of the NBA's 21st century.

He shared the evening with several of the NBA's best point guards of the future, with Luka Doncic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Trae Young each included in his class, albeit with much less fanfare than the various lottery-selected prospects. Even as some of Brunson's peers have exceeded him in peak value and longevity across their equally-short careers, he still has his development story over the All-Stars.

"For most of their careers, Luka Dončić vs. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander would have played out similarly to Mitchell vs. Tatum," Sam Quinn wrote. "The higher pick was clearly better, but the lower pick was close enough to make it a debate. Now that Gilgeous-Alexander has won an MVP and a championship, there's not really a pick-value debate between he and Dončić anymore.

"The difference between 2017 and 2018, though, is that 2017 didn't produce a second-round pick that's nearly at their level. Jalen Brunson has grown into a consistent All-NBA pick from the No. 33 slot. As impressive as Gilgeous-Alexander winning MVP from No. 11 is, that 20-pick gap is just too great to ignore."

Brunson, once the significantly-less exciting 2018 Dallas prospect alongside former teammate Dončić, slowly elevated into a reliable scoring guard before walking to the Knicks in free agency, where he nearly-immediately flexed his shooting muscles in a less-constricting role. He's been listed on the MVP ballot in each of his three seasons with his new team, leading the Knicks as far as the Eastern Conference Finals in 2025 in the seventh playoff series he's played in New York.