The NBA Elite 100 was released on Wednesday, with Action Network NBA analysts Matt Moore and Brandon Anderson breaking down their 100 most impactful players for the 2024-25 NBA season.
The pair also discussed their rankings on a recent episode of BUCKETS, Action Network's NBA podcast, and debated a variety of topics, including how to rank Jalen Brunson. The Knicks guard came in at No. 11 on the list, and that was by virtue of an intense disagreement between Moore, who ranked Brunson 5th, and Anderson, who ranked him 18th.
Matt Moore: Are you out of your mind, Brandon? I understand conceptually why you wouldn't like the guy, and that part of it is you're always going to rank guys from a metrics perspective based off of their impact in various areas. And I get that. The fact that he finished fifth in MVP is not going to matter to you. It's going to matter to me because he was able to garner enough respect from everyone around the league to have finished with that kind of position.
If you had me list the baddest dudes to face in the playoffs, Jalen is probably my No. 1. That's how tough he is to face in the playoffs. He's efficient, smart, leads the offense, is great in transition, a great passer, and able to navigate the pick and roll at an extremely high level.
I understand the Knicks offense isn't great. I've said before their half-court offense isn't good and I don't know how this team is good. Well, a really good answer for how they're still good is Jalen Brunson.
I cannot fathom having him at 18. If you want to say he's not a top-10 player, all right. But 18? No. Jalen's at that level. Jalen's that good. I feel very confident with Jalen.
Brandon Anderson: I just feel like I'm buying Jalen at his absolutely peak. It feels like he's maxed out the version that we've seen of him. This is the best version we're going to get of him, and that's already not a top-five player.
I'm concerned about a small guard at age 28 on a team coached by Tom Thibodeau. It's more of a long-term thing, but I'm concerned about the durability. That's a thing that could be in play this year, especially after he was run into the ground last year and on a team that is really thin now. He's going to have to do a lot, and that takes high usage.
At the end of the day, my instinct is that Jalen Brunson is more additive than he is multiplicative. He adds offense to the team, but I don't think he multiplies the offense and makes the other guys much better.
I have him ranked similar to guys like Donovan Mitchell and Trae Young, who I think could do pretty much the same thing in New York's offense given the role that Jalen Brunson has. Same with Ja Morant. Brunson is a better defender than those guys, but it's why I have them a bit lower.
