The NBA is not lacking in extremely talented players, like Wembanyama, who is a static talent at the historical level, has shown his dominance this season, with a height of 2.26 meters, an arm span of more than 2.4 meters, can shoot and control the ball on the offensive end, and has a wide range of coverage on the defensive end, ranking first in the league with an average of 3.4 blocks per game, which is not like a rookie player at all. And the league also has those young players with exaggerated dynamic talent, like Morant of the Grizzlies and Edwards of the Timberwolves, whose physical fitness is very explosive, flying away in the game, hitting the basket unstoppable, and repeatedly staging wonderful dunks. These talented players are clearly more favored by the league and are more likely to develop into All-Star caliber players. Of course, the league is more about the kind of players who have mediocre talent and didn't get much attention when they first debuted.
And players with average talent also have the opportunity to become superstars, the most typical example is Jokic of the Nuggets. Jokic entered the NBA as a second-round pick in '14, and at the time, Jokic's scouting report read: An average athlete who lacks speed and jumping ability, he may have a hard time staying in the NBA. Despite the fact that he is a young man, he lacks explosiveness, which seems to limit his upside. Unexpectedly, the current Jokic has become the most powerful superstar in the league, leading the Nuggets to win the championship as the team boss last season. To be honest, Jokic, as an interior player, does lack explosiveness and slow movement speed, but these small problems do not affect him to become a top star in the slightest, and Jokic has many hidden advantages, such as ball intelligence, which he couldn't discover when he first entered the league.
In addition to Jokic, players like Thomas Jr. of the Nets and Bane of the Grizzlies are all very talented and can now sit firmly in the core of the team. There is another player, who was also born as a second-round pick and has now become an All-Star, a typical player whose strength is greater than fame and hard work is greater than talent, and that is Brunson of the Knicks. Brunson was selected by the Mavericks with the third pick in the second round in 18 years, and has been being a junior brother next to Doncic, his height is only 1.85 meters, and he is also the shortest among the guards, and the league's small guards generally have relatively strong dynamic talents, and the key is that Brunson's athleticism is also very average, so when he first entered the league, his prospects were not very optimistic, and it was difficult to gain a foothold in the league for a long time.
In the playoffs of the 21-22 season, Brunson finally seized the opportunity and showed a wave of his strength. At that time, Doncic was injured and missed the entire first round of the playoffs, Brunson was appointed to be the team's boss, and the series performance was impressive, facing the Jazz with Mitchell + Gobert, he single-handedly led the team to eliminate the opponent 4-2, during which he averaged 27.8 points per game. Later, even after Doncic's return, Brunson was still able to play super high offensive efficiency and continued to maintain good average data per game, and the Mavericks reached the Western Conference Finals for the first time in many years that year. Despite Brunson's heroic playoff performance that year, the Mavericks failed to offer him an ideal contract extension, and in the end, the New York Knicks saw it and offered Brunson a four-year, $104 million contract.
After joining the Knicks, Brunson was able to adapt to the new team quickly, averaging 24 points, 3.5 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game that season, and also activated Randle to give the Knicks a new life, and they also exceeded expectations last year to enter the second round of the playoffs. And this season, Brunson continued to usher in qualitative improvement, averaging 27.9 points, 3.6 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game, with a three-point shooting rate of more than 4 percent, and was selected to the All-Star team for the first time in his career, leading the team to become a super dark horse in the East and breaking into the top three in the East. In a game with the Suns in mid-December last year, Brunson shot 9-of-9 from three-point range and scored 50 points, 6 rebounds, 9 assists and 5 steals, becoming the player who hit the most three-pointers in a single game of 50 points in history.
In the last game against the Spurs, Brunson scored 61 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists, setting a new career high in scoring. 61 points + 50 points! From the second to the boss! The most underrated supergiant in the NBA is that gold always shines. Brunson's strength lies in his stable projection, his smart and rhythmic play, his ability to break through and make kills, and his ability to observe the game. Although his height is not high, his body is still very strong, he belongs to the small steel cannon type, and his confrontation ability is not weak at all. Last season, the Knicks broke into the second round of the playoffs, Brunson continues to improve this season, plus the Knicks lineup configuration has also been enhanced, the defensive titan Anunoby was introduced in the middle of the season, and the overall strength of the Eastern Conference itself is also weak, I don't know how far the Knicks can go this year?