A lot has changed in the world since Josh Hart and Jalen Brunson won an NCAA championship together for Villanova in 2016.
Hart, who was selected in the 2017 NBA Draft, has now played for three different NBA franchises (Los Angeles Lakers, New Orleans Pelicans, and the Portland Trail Blazers) since then. He is now making his way to his fourth professional team as part of a deal with the New York Knicks.
While on the Knicks, Hart will reunite with Brunson, his former collegiate teammate. Brunson would go on to win a second collegiate national title at Villanova in 2018 before turning pro and hearing his name called in the draft later that season.
Jalen Brunson found out he was reuniting with Villanova teammate Josh Hart moments after his college jersey was retired 💙
Brunson coincidentally returned to the Villanova campus on Tuesday evening for a jersey retirement ceremony, which is actually where he was when he got the news that Hart was traded to New York.
The 6-foot-2 guard was clearly thrilled to reunite with his former collegiate running mate and he couldn’t hold back the excitement. Mikal Bridges, the Phoenix Suns wing who was a freshman on that Villanova roster, was also happy to see his teammates reunite:
Ryan Arcidiacono, who was named Big East co-Player of the Year in 2015 and NCAA basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player in 2016, was also teammates with Brunson and Hart at Villanova.
Arcidiacono was on the Knicks roster this season but he was actually included in the deal, alongside Cam Reddish, that sent Hart to New York.
Rookie Wire took a look at some of the biggest snubs from the 2023 NBA All-Star Game.
The NBA on Thursday unveiled the seven reserve players from each conference to complete the rosters for the 2023 NBA All-Star Game on Feb. 19 in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James led all players in fan voting to represent the Western Conference as a starter. Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo was the lead vote-getter in the Eastern Conference. The two players will serve as captains and select their teams right before the start of the All-Star Game for the first time.
Joining James as the starters from the Western Conference are Nikola Jokic (Denver), Zion Williamson (New Orleans), Stephen Curry (Golden State) and Luka Doncic (Dallas). From the Eastern Conference, the other starters are Kevin Durant (Brooklyn), Jayson Tatum (Boston), Kyrie Irving (Brooklyn) and Donovan Mitchell (Cleveland).
The seven reserves in each conference were voted on by the 30 head coaches in the NBA. Each selected two guards, three frontcourt players and two additional players from any position, but were not permitted to choose players from their team.
The 14 reserve players that will join the 10 starters:
Eastern Conference
Western Conference
Joel Embiid, 76ers
Ja Morant, Grizzlies
DeMar DeRozan, Bulls
Domantas Sabonis, Kings
Jaylen Brown, Celtics
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Thunder
Bam Adebayo, Heat
Paul George, Clippers
Jrue Holiday, Bucks
Damian Lillard, Trail Blazers
Julius Randle, Knicks
Lauri Markkanen, Jazz
Tyrese Haliburton, Pacers
Jaren Jackson Jr., Grizzlies
With the rosters set, Rookie Wire took a look at some of the biggest snubs from the announcement of the reserves. It should be stated that some of these players could eventually make it as replacement players for those All-Stars who may be injured.
New York Knicks leading man Jalen Brunson praises rising Philadelphia 76ers star Tyrese Maxey after their win.
PHILADELPHIA–The Philadelphia 76ers were severely shorthanded in Friday’s loss to the New York Knicks. They were missing their star duo of Joel Embiid and James Harden as well as key reserve Danuel House Jr. as they continued to try and find their stride.
Somebody had to take on more responsibility for the Sixers and on Friday, that guy was Tyrese Maxey. The third-year guard had 31 points and made so many big plays on a night when the Sixers needed somebody to step up and make them.
Unfortunately for the Sixers, the efforts came in a 106-104 loss as the Knicks completed a fourth-quarter comeback. Philadelphia wasn’t able to finish the job, but Knicks leading man Jalen Brunson was left feeling impressed with what Maxey did on Friday.
“Everything,” said Brunson of Maxey. “He’s the real deal. He’s only gotten better and better every year. He’s a special player and I don’t see him slowing down any time soon.”
Maxey still has some growing to do, but with his work ethic, he has the ability to really be a star in this league. Brunson sees it. The league sees it. Now, Maxey just has to continue to put the work in and grow.
NBA Twitter gives their reactions to the Philadelphia 76ers collapsing at home late in a loss to the New York Knicks.
The Philadelphia 76ers looked like they were cruising at home on Friday night. Despite missing both of their star duo of Joel Embiid and James Harden, the Sixers were playing good basketball and they built a 12-point lead in the fourth quarter against the New York Knicks.
Then, a collapse happened. The Sixers topped doing what led to their offensive success as they stopped moving the ball and they couldn’t get any stops as they fell to the Knicks 106-104 at home. There were costly mistakes all over the place and it resulted in the Sixers falling to 4-6 on the season after the first 10 games of the 2022-23 season.
Coach Doc Rivers made a costly substitution late when he inserted Paul Reed into the game late in an effort to bring in more size, but Reed lost Obi Toppin and he drilled a triple to give New York the lead for good at the 1:43 mark in the fourth. Philadelphia as a team shot just 27.3% in the fourth.
NBA Twitter gave their best reactions to the collapse by the Sixers.
Expectations for the Knicks last season were high after making the playoffs as a No. 4 seed in 2020-21. Injuries, a regression from Julius Randle’s All-Star year, and a stronger Eastern Conference all factored into the Knicks’ disappointing …
Expectations for the Knicks last season were high after making the playoffs as a No. 4 seed in 2020-21. Injuries, a regression from Julius Randle’s All-Star year, and a stronger Eastern Conference all factored into the Knicks’ disappointing campaign. And while the conference has likely gotten even stronger, there’s reason to believe that the Knicks could still get into the bottom part of the playoff mix. While they may not be a top team in the East, it’s also hard to envision them being a Bottom 5 squad like last year.
Below is a preview of the upcoming 2022-23 Knicks season.
The Knicks had one nightmare of a season last year in Tom Thibodeau’s second campaign as coach in New York. After exceeding expectations and grabbing a first-round bye in 2020-21, the Knicks regressed and found themselves finishing in the basement …
The Knicks had one nightmare of a season last year in Tom Thibodeau’s second campaign as coach in New York. After exceeding expectations and grabbing a first-round bye in 2020-21, the Knicks regressed and found themselves finishing in the basement of their division last season.
The Knicks signed Jalen Brunson to a four-year, $104 million deal to be their starting point guard. Brunson comes in to improve their stagnant offense and could have more help in the way with the team aggressively trying to acquire Donovan Mitchell.
This third season for Thibodeau in New York will be crucial and should give the front office a good idea if he will be the coach of the future, or if they will need to make a change.
Let’s take a look at the likely rotation for the team.
When the annual arrival of the NBA’s summer doldrums finally drops, NBA analysts tend to turn to the tried and true source of content for when the annual news cycle slows to a crawl — making lists of things. And here at the Celtics Wire, we appreciate a little creativity with the philosophy behind a list, even if it is an exceptionally simple (and slightly silly) one.
So it caught our attention that ESPN host Jalen Rose put together one such list of his favorite plays from the 2021-22 season, with one catch: the list is restricted to players who also happen to be named a variation of “Jalen”.
Boston Celtics star forward Jaylen Brown of course makes an appearance; watch the clip embedded below to see where Brown stacks up against the likes of Jalen Suggs and Jalen Brunson — at least in Rose’s opinion.
The Knicks might be tampering for Jalen Brunson, but that’s not that big of a deal.
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What’s good, family. It’s your boy Sykes here with another edition of Layup Lines. Free agency is the talk of the town right now around the league — more specifically, Jalen Brunson.
It seems like the Mavericks guard is about to be a former Mavericks guard. Brunson is reportedly going to have a 4-year, $110 million offer from the Knicks waiting on him, per Chris Haynes of Yahoo! Sports.
After their trade with the Pistons on Wednesday where the shipped Nerlens Noel, Alec Burks, a 2nd round pick and $6 million (!!!!!!) in cash, the Knicks have cleared about $30 million in cap space to use on Brunson.
It’s pretty clear at this point this is a done deal. Everyone is reporting it from Marc Stein to ESPN to The Athletic and more. Brunson’s days as a Maverick seem to be over.
Now, if you’re a Mavericks fan, you’re probably a bit peeved right now. Free agency doesn’t even start for another day. But it feels like Brunson’s contract with the Knicks has already essentially been negotiated — he just needs to sign on the dotted line.
Let’s be honest about it — the Knicks probably tampered here. Maybe it was through his agent, Drew Morrison, who works at the Creative Arts Agency where Knicks Team President Leon Rose used to head the basketball division. Or maybe it was through his father, Rick Brunson, who the team recently hired. I’m not sure.
But here’s my thing: I think tampering is fine! Especially this sort of tampering. The season is over. All we’re doing is twiddling our thumbs and waiting for free agency to start, anyway. Why not get it popping early?
I get there’s decorum and you want to make sure teams get a true first swing at their own players. But the Mavericks had every chance to retain Brunson — at the beginning of the season with a better extension offer and in January before his extension deadline. They could even beat out the Knicks here if they wanted to, though it’d come at a hefty price.
At this point, this just is what it is. The Mavericks can’t be upset at anyone but themselves here if Brunson leaves. That’s on them.
The Tip-Off
Some NBA goodness from around the USA TODAY Sports network.
“Last week, Parker became the first player in WNBA history to record three career triple-doubles. On Wednesday, she became the only WNBA player to reach 6,000 points, 3,000 rebounds and 1,500 assists in a career after dishing a sweet, no-look dime to Kahleah Copper on the fastbreak.”
That’s pretty awesome stuff, man. Shoutout to Candace for continuing to grow her legend.
Storm (-1.5, -105) vs. Aces (-115), O/U 232.5, 10 PM ET
(Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
The Seattle Storm and Las Vegas Aces are two of the teams most think could make a legitimate run to the WNBA Finals. The Aces have been the clear-cut best team in the W all season long with three legitimate MVP candidates on the roster in A’ja Wilson, Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young. I’m taking the Aces +1.5 pretty easily here.
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They’ve made some trades and moves to have the cap room to sign the guard.
The New York Knicks have made it VERY clear: They need a point guard, and they’re going to stop at practically nothing to sign one of the top options on the market, Jalen Brunson.
From wheeling and dealing on draft night to a move made just a couple of days before the free agency period begins on Thursday, the Knicks have carved out enough cap room to bring in Brunson on a big deal.
Is it a risk to do all this for Brunson after he broke out this season for the Dallas Mavericks? Maybe. But it’s for sure an upgrade if he indeed signs, as it’s been reported he’ll do.
