WHY NOT JALEN BRUNSON FOR NBA MVP?

It's official, Jalen Brunson has arrived in the NBA MVP conversation.

After scoring the NBA's Player of the Month in March, averaging 28.8 points and 5.8 assists, he has taken his game to an even more elevated level in April to 35.6 points and 9.6 assists. The Knicks now find themselves sitting in 3rd place in the Eastern Conference with two games to go.

Following the Knicks’ 118-109 win over the league-leading Celtics, Kenny 'The Jet' Smith analyst on 'Inside The NBA' gushed over Brunson’s 39-point performance.

“The New York Knicks are the most surprising team to me in basketball right now,” he said. “They should be a No. 6 seed without Julius Randle. [Mitchell] Robinson missed games, OG [Anunoby] missed games. Brunson has been the best basketball player in the Eastern Conference by far.”

THE MEDIA JOINS THE BRUNSON BANDWAGON
ESPN's analyst has the New York Knicks superstar joining the MVP conversation, even surpassing Milwaukee Bucks‘ two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is at No. 5, and Boston Celtics’ star Jayson Tatum, who is surprisingly absent from Legler’s top five MVP candidates.

“No. 4, I’m going to go with Jalen Brunson,” Legler said on the “NBA Today” on April 11. “He’s going to get some votes, man! And I think what it comes down to is when you look at the injuries they’ve dealt with and just the load he has to carry every night at the point guard position from a scoring standpoint just to keep them in games. It’s really remarkable what Jalen Brunson has able to do. You can’t get him off his game I’m going to put him solidly at [No. 4].”

Predictably Legler rounds out his top five with MVP candidates with Oklahoma City Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander at No. 3, Dallas Mavericks‘ Luka Doncic at No. 2, and Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic as his pick to win his third MVP in 4 years.

THE UNDERRATED LINE:
Ultimately since joining the New York Knicks Brunson has proven time and time again that he is the real deal. Brunson is one of the hardest-working players in the NBA and that hard work is paying off on and off the court. We wrote an article last week about his pending contract extension which could happen this summer for around $156 Million, or he could wait until 2025, and really cash in with a contract north of $270 Million.

So does Brunson have a legit chance of winning this year's NBA MVP trophy? Probably not. Take Luka Doncic, who will finish the season averaging just under 34 points, with 9 rebounds and 9 assists per game. Statistically, Luka has had a strong enough season to challenge Jokic for the award. However, it is pretty clear to everyone that Jokic will walk away with the trophy for a third time this season.

Brunson who just entered the NBA MVP conversation will certainly have a shot at the award next season if he can average north of 33 points a game and lead the Knicks to a first-place finish in the East. A tall order I know, but that's what it would take for him to be a serious MVP contender.