Jalen Brunson is nearing New York Knicks basketball immortality, as the team is just two wins away from winning the 2026 NBA title. It has been quite a ride for someone that teams passed over in the first round of the 2019 NBA Draft.
To this day, Brunson’s Knicks teammate Mikal Bridges believes Brunson was greatly undervalued at the time.
“I think sometimes when it leads up to the draft, I think like measurements and stuff and all of them things is just too important for teams besides sometimes just watching basketball,” Bridges told reporters on Sunday.
“I don’t know how much more he has to do, winning national player of the year, leading his team to championships. I’m not a GM or anything. I think I wouldn’t make him wait all the way to the second round.”
Mikal on Jalen dropping in the draft:
— Oh No He Didn't (@ohnohedidnt24) June 7, 2026
"I think sometimes when it leads up to the draft, I think like measurements and stuff and all of them things is just too important for teams besides sometimes just watching basketball. I don't know how much more he has to do…winning… https://t.co/CAu0bUvsPU pic.twitter.com/8eTUQ7ICnX
Bridges can be an authority on Brunson’s capabilities. He’s known the three-time NBA All-Star for a long time, as they were teammates with the Villanova Wildcats. In fact, they won two national titles together at Villanova.
Brunson collected numerous college awards in his final season with the Wildcats, but NBA teams didn’t seem to view him as a first-round pick, mostly because of his size.
Three of his Villanova teammates were taken before him at the 2018 draft, with Bridges, Donte DiVincenzo and Omari Spellman all selected in the first round, while Brunson waited until the second round before the Dallas Mavericks took him 33rd overall.
