Jalen Brunson didn’t need long to quiet the noise around his return.
After New York’s 53-year title drought ended with last season’s Larry O'Brien Trophy run, Brunson underwent surgery to repair a soft-tissue tendon issue in his left shooting wrist. That kept the reigning Finals MVP out of basketball activities for most of the summer and left plenty of room for questions about how he’d look once the 2026-27 NBA season got underway.
One preseason game was enough to give the Knicks and their fans a reassuring answer.
In just 15 minutes against a 76ers team missing three of its stars, Brunson looked fully in rhythm. His shot had no visible hitch, and his control of the game never wavered. He finished with 12 points, four rebounds and three assists, while turning it over zero times and shooting 50.0 percent from the floor and 40.0 percent from deep.
For a first taste of preseason action, it was exactly the kind of outing New York wanted to see. Brunson’s line pointed to a player who appears ready to pick up where he left off as the Knicks begin their title-defense tour.
The opener also gave James Wiseman a chance to make his case.
The training camp invitee took advantage of his nine minutes on the floor, posting eight points, five rebounds and a block. He was active throughout, showing a natural feel for rim-running and a willingness to battle for loose balls.
Since he signed an Exhibit 9 contract with the Knicks in September, there has been a belief that Wiseman holds an edge over the other camp invitees in the race for a standard deal. Sources view him as the favorite among the players on the roster bubble.
That idea should only gain traction after this debut, especially with Bruce Brown, Tony Bradley and Drew Eubanks all coming in with quieter nights by comparison. With the October 19 deadline approaching, Wiseman’s first showing gave him a strong foothold in the competition.
In Other News...
Bruce Brown Is Suddenly In A Knicks Fight Fans Didn't Expect
Bruce Browns path to New York has been shaped as much by the leagues new spending rules as by his own rsum. The 30-year-old forward, long valued as a high-energy bench piece, landed with the Knicks on a training camp deal after drawing limited interest elsewhere, a reminder of how the NBAs second apron has made life harder for veteran free agents hunting for the kind of stable, longer-term opportunity Brown once would have had.
Now Brown is simply trying to stick, which is a different challenge entirely. Training camp invitations always carry an edge of uncertainty, but in this case the Knicks depth chart leaves little room for comfort, and the competition for a roster spot has become the real story as New York sorts out its back end before opening night. [Read more 🡒]
Knicks Opener Got Pulled Into A LeBron Embiid Tension Story
The Knicks preseason opener wound up carrying a little extra chatter before the ball was even tipped, thanks to a Mike Breen mention of a story involving LeBron James and Joel Embiid. The buzz centered on an alleged incident in which James supposedly reprimanded Embiid for being late to a 76ers practice, a bit of sideline gossip that quickly spread beyond the game itself even though neither star took part in the matchup against New York.
LeBron publicly pushed back on the tale on Instagram, while Embiid has stayed quiet. Inside the 76ers, the picture has sounded much calmer, with reports indicating the groups practices and workouts have been viewed in positive terms. For the Knicks, it meant a preseason game briefly got pulled into a bigger league conversation, the sort of off-court thread that can linger even when the players at the center of it are not on the floor. [Read more 🡒]
Knicks Are Running Into A Harsh Pacome Dadiet Reality
Pacome Dadiets first year in New York has not exactly given the Knicks much leverage. The team is said to be exploring ways to move the young wing in order to clear a roster spot and create a little more salary-cap flexibility, but the market has not responded the way they had hoped. After a lukewarm Summer League, World Cup qualifiers and preseason showing, Dadiet has not built the kind of buzz that usually helps a player become a useful trade chip.
For the Knicks, that leaves a familiar front office problem: trying to turn a roster logjam into a clean solution without paying too high a price. There has been no concrete deal reported, and the lack of outside interest suggests New York may have to get creative to get anything done. For now, Dadiet remains on the roster and the team is still looking for a path forward that fits both the cap sheet and the depth chart. [Read more 🡒]