Ranking Leon Rose’s three best and worst moves as Knicks President
By Ari Schwartz
Best Move #1: Signing Jalen Brunson for four years $120 million
If you’ve seen any Knicks basketball over the last year, you knew this was coming as the best move of Rose’s tenure with New York. Brunson was acquired during free agency of 2022, with hopes that he would be the solution to the Knicks’ point guard problem.
At first, fans didn’t know what to think of it, as Brunson had proven to be a good role player in the past but nothing special. Fans much would’ve preferred Donovan Mitchell to be the home-run move of the summer. Little did they know Brunson was the savior they were waiting for all along.
His 42-point point performance against the Jazz in the first round of the playoffs was no fluke. Brunson finished the regular season with four 40-point games, four more than he had ever had in the regular season. He averaged 24 points and 6 assists while shooting 49% from the field and 41% from three across 68 regular season games, somehow being robbed of All-star and All-NBA honors.
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Brunson exceeded these numbers in the playoffs while leading New York past the Cavs, and putting up a one-man fight against the Miami Heat. No matter where the front office decides to go with the future, one thing is for sure: Jalen Brunson will be a part of it.