The Knicks clearly appear to be one of the top two teams in the East, but star guard Jalen Brunson doesn’t want his teammates to believe that means an automatic return to the conference finals, relays Kristian Winfield of The New York Post.
“Hopefully we don’t have that mindset going into the season where we think we’re just going to jump back into the Eastern Conference Finals,” Brunson said in an interview this week with Games Hub. “We need to be able to go through this process again and continue to get better and to fight to get over that hump.”
New York returns the core of a roster that fell two games short of a trip to the NBA Finals last season. The team is counting on improved depth after adding Jordan Clarkson and Guerschon Yabusele in free agency, along with several other talents who will compete for roster spots in training camp. The Knicks also made a coaching change, with Mike Brown considered more likely to rely on a deep bench than his predecessor, Tom Thibodeau.
Brunson believes the offseason maneuvering has put the team in position to succeed at the highest level.
“I think we’ve been taking steady steps every year,” he said. “The best part about our team is the chemistry we’ve grown and we’ve created. A lot of people help us on this journey, and to be able to be where we are now, it’s nothing to be satisfied about. Everyone says, ‘Oh, you need to get experience.’ Well, this is us getting experience. This is literally us going through the trials and tribulations of being a good team. So continue to do that and just find a way to see what can we do to get over that hump. It’s going to take all of us. It’s not going to take just one change or another small thing. It’s going to take all of us together to kind of put everything aside and pull together.”
Brunson was also complimentary of center Karl-Anthony Towns, who expanded the team’s offensive capabilities after being acquired from Minnesota shortly before the start of last season. There won’t be a learning curve for Towns as he prepares for his second year in New York, and Brunson believes he can be even better after earning third-team All-NBA honors.
“Having him as a teammate has been really fun,” Brunson said. “I think that gets overlooked how good of a teammate he is. Obviously, he’s a great player and what he does on the court. But the teammate he is and what he brings to the locker room for us is special. So I’m really happy to have him. Don’t think you can compare him. He shoots the ball so effortlessly, and he can make plays. He has great touch around the rim, so he’s pretty much his own person. He picks different games of styles of basketball, and kind of makes it into his own.”