Apr 8, 2025; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) during the second half against the Boston Celtics at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images John Jones-Imagn Images

Knicks Star Primed to Win First Championship

Originally posted on New York Knicks on SI
By Henry Brown | Last updated Sep 19, 2025 2:30 PM ET

The last seven NBA championship winners have included seven different teams, and if that pattern holds, New York and its band of ringless Knicks could be next.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander took home his first Larry O'Brien trophy with the Oklahoma City Thunder at last season's end, joining Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jayson Tatum as the best active players with titles to show for their individual greatness. When experts look around the league for the next-likeliest young stars to join that class, one name that's continually popped up has been the Knicks' Jalen Brunson.

He placed third on Bleacher Report's ranking of the best active bets to win a title during their ongoing primes, with the Knick out-placing old New York foe Jimmy Butler and Brunson's former teammate in Luka Dončić. Now that some of the Knicks' biggest obstacles have fallen, his consistent playoff participants have a wide-open shot at building on last year's Eastern Conference Finals breakthrough.

"The Cleveland Cavaliers are a force, but Brunson's Knicks took them down in the first round of the 2023 playoffs," Grant Hughes wrote. "If the Philadelphia 76ers stay healthy enough to pose a threat, New York can derive confidence from the time it eliminated Philly in the first round of 2024.

"If new head coach Mike Brown does a better job of limiting Brunson's minutes during the regular season, the two-time All-NBA guard could be fresher for the playoffs. Considering a heavily fatigued Brunson has averaged 29.9 points and 6.8 assists over the last three years and 42 postseason games with the Knicks, an uptick in production would be a remarkable achievement."

New York Knicks Guard Jalen Brunson and Center Karl-Anthony Towns Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

He may lack the historical standing of some of his list-mates, having gotten out to a fairly slow start to his NBA journey before blossoming into one of the league's elite scoring point guards, but his top-10 status and superior team-standing have already placed him ahead of old friend Dončić.

Brunson still finds himself below a few other guards, with Donovan Mitchell barely out-placing the Knicks star here. His prime's spanned twice as long as Brunson's has to this point. His Cavaliers sustain as New York's only proven regular season threat to the No. 1 seed, having done so just last season with 64 wins.

He doesn't lead the field, though; that honor belongs to Anthony Edwards, who's more or less the obvious candidate to the question posed by Hughes. He's several years younger than everyone else mentioned, already pushing an MVP case after just turning 24-years-old, and his Minnesota Timberwolves are well-positioned to continue challenging the tougher Western Conference. Brunson can't quite match that upside, but he's put his Knicks visibly within a title's reach.

This article first appeared on New York Knicks on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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