Best option may not yet be on team
RICK Brunson pointed to his Apple Watch when asked how he was going to see his son play in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament on Friday night. Brunson, an assistant coach for the Timberwolves, was at the Garden, where Minnesota outlasted the Knicks 108-104. His son, Jalen Brunson, is the starting point guard for top-seeded Villanova, which advanced to the Elite Eight with a 90-78 triumph over West Virginia in an East Region semifinal in Boston.
“I’ll keep an eye on things,” the elder Brunson, said, still pointing to the watch.
It won’t be long before Jalen Brunson, a junior, is in the NBA. The question is whether the Knicks will still be in the market for a point guard when he declares for the draft. Right now, the Knicks aren’t planning to alter the rotation of their threeheaded experiment that features Frank Ntilikina and Trey Burke coming off the bench behind starter Emmanuel Mudiay.
Burke has clearly performed best of the three, scoring 15 points Friday night, while Ntilikina had 13. Mudiay started, but played only five minutes before the leaving the game for good without scoring a point. Burke also had nine assists. Mudiay is nursing a sprained ankle, but the injury had nothing to do with his extended time on the bench Friday night.
“We didn’t get off to a great start and those other guys came in and got us back in the game and got us life,” Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek said.
Despite Burke’s numbers, those calling for him to be promoted to the starting lineup can save their breath. The Knicks’ decision-makers prefer Burke coming off the bench, adding instant energy and scoring.
“We like him coming off the bench,” a source familiar with the Knicks’ thinking said. “The better question is who should start between Ntilikina and Mudiay?”
Although Hornacek would not commit to starting Mudiay against the Wizards on Sunday, don’t expect much of a change in the overall rotation, at least not until training camp arrives and Mudiay and Ntilikina have had an offseason to build their bodies. The Knicks think Ntilikina will benefit from an offseason in the team’s strength and conditioning program and more competition against NBA-level players.
“He just needs to grow and learn,” the source said.
Mudiay needs to get in shape, a theme that has been repeated since he was acquired in a trade-deadline deal for Doug McDermott and a 2018 secondrounder. With the Knicks sounding like they plan to keep Burke, and Burke sounding like he wants to stay, it looks like the organization will return all three guards for the 2018-2019 season.
That’s not exactly a reassuring thought given the way the Knicks have performed since Mudiay’s arrival. None of the three guards has proven he can lead a team to the playoffs. That doesn’t mean time and experience won’t improve things. But by then, Jalen Brunson could be a better option.
Jalen Brunson is a combination of all three Knicks guards. He doesn’t have Ntilikina’s length, but he can defend. He can score like Burke and he operates his team better than Mudiay does his.
“I tried to make my son understand the game of basketball,” the elder Brunson said. “It’s not about how fast you are or how much you can score. It’s about how smart you are; how you run your team; how you lead your team. That’s the guy you need to help your team win.”
That’s the guy the Knicks are searching for.