Jalen Brunson is a certified star, taking the Knicks to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since the year 2000. Obviously, he’s gotten some help from Karl Anthony Towns and a duo of fellow Villanova alumni, but it’s clear that he’s the current “King of New York.” Despite the high honor and title that comes from being the Knicks star player, Brunson is still not quite in that top echelon of players in the NBA.
There are a number of players that, if given the opportunity to trade for them, you would be willing to give up Brunson. If you look at the NBA 2K25 ratings, you can see that there are 11 players with better ratings than Jalen:
- Nikola Jokic, C, Denver Nuggets
- Giannis Antetokounmpo, PF/C, Milwaukee Bucks
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, PG/SG, OKC Thunder
- Luka Doncic, PG/SG, Los Angeles Lakers
- LeBron James, PF/PG, Los Angeles Lakers
- Stephen Curry, PG/SG, Golden State Warriors
- Jayson Tatum, PF/SF, Boston Celtics
- Anthony Davis, C/PF, Dallas Mavericks
- Anthony Edwards, SG/SF, Minnesota Timberwolves
- Donovan Mitchell, SG/PG, Cleveland Cavaliers
- Victor Wembanyama, C/PF, San Antonio Spurs
I’m not sure if all of these 11 players would be worth trading Jalen Brunson for. Joker, Greek Freak, SGA, and Doncic are in a league of their own and essentially priceless; I don’t think any of their teams would accept any trade. Even if the Knicks tried trading Brunson and KAT, it would probably end up being fiscally impossible anyway. James and Curry may be too old and expensive to justify a trade, while Tatum, Davis, and Mitchell are of similar value to Brunson and might come down to personal preference.
I personally wouldn’t trade Brunson for Anthony Davis or Donovan Mitchell, but if given the opportunity to get Jayson Tatum in the New York Knicks, orange would be too tempting to pass up, provided we can make it work financially.
As for Anthony Edwards and Victor Wembanyama, it would be GM malpractice not to take those trades if given the opportunity. I personally would give up Brunson and as many draft picks as possible to get either of those two young studs on my roster.
The other players I would consider trading Jalen Brunson for are some young guys with high potential, like:
- Cade Cunningham, PG/SG, Detroit Pistons
- Evan Mobley, PF/C, Cleveland Cavaliers
- Jaylen Brown, SF/SG, Boston Celtics
- Trae Young, PG, Atlanta Falcons
- Tyrese Haliburton, PG/SG, Indiana Pacers
- Paolo Banchero, PF/SF, Orlando Magic
- Jalen Williams, PF/SF, OKC Thunder
These guys could potentially be worth it, as they will likely continue to develop as great basketball players. Meanwhile, Brunson is creeping slowly towards that dreaded 30-year-old age, and unless he proves to be conditioned like LeBron James or Al Horford, he will likely start to plateau talent-wise sooner rather than later.
