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The Knicks put together quite a show to celebrate Jalen Brunson’s captaincy on Thursday.
There was Patrick Ewing narrating a video montage of Brunson’s Knicks highlights mixed with footage of Brunson, as a kid, hanging around Ewing’s Knicks teams.
There was video of Derek Jeter, Mark Messier and other New York sports legends congratulating Brunson on his captaincy.
Knicks owner James Dolan was front row for the event. Ewing was on hand with Allan Houston and John Starks.
Mikal Bridges and Miles McBride were among a group of teammates at Madison Square Garden for the ceremony. As you’d expect, Knicks president Leon Rose, executive vice president William Wesley and head coach Tom Thibodeau were there.
Toward the end of the celebration, the Knicks presented Brunson with a $20,000 check for his charity, Second Round Foundation.
As MSG’s Alan Hahn was announcing the amount of the check, Brunson joked “for $113 million?”
The difference between the extension Brunson signed this summer and the max contract he could have signed next season is $113 million.
Amid the jokes, Brunson spoke earnestly about why he signed a $156 million extension this summer instead of waiting next summer to ink a five-year, $270 million deal.
That financial sacrifice will obviously help the Knicks add to this roster and avoid the punitive second apron in the current CBA.
But that’s not the only sacrifice the Knicks need to reach their goals during the Brunson era.
They will also need significant sacrifices from players up and down the roster. This is a team that played the final four months of the season without Julius Randle. They will have to incorporate both Randle and Bridges into a rotation that relied heavily on Donte DiVincenzo and Josh Hart last season. Will Hart and DiVincenzo play the same roles this season?
That seems unlikely with Randle and Bridges on the roster.
So this team will rely heavily on players sacrificing minutes and shots for the greater good. Most NBA teams and players talk about putting the team ahead of themselves. These Knicks will have to live that ethos day in and day out to reach their potential. It’s a…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/roster-dynamics-jalen-brunson-confident-225021466.html
Author : SNY
Publish date : 2024-08-08 22:50:21
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