Never mind that he had never even started an NBA game on a regular basis before last season, or that the search for a long-term point guard solution in New York seems to never come to a conclusion. At Madison Square Garden, the former second-round selection is in charge, and the Knicks seem certain that the journey will be straightforward.
Thibodeau made all of those comments despite having known about Brunson, 26, for a long time before coaching him in only one preseason game. When Brunson was a little child in the late 1990s and Thibodeau was an assistant coach for the Knicks, Rick Brunson was a player for the squad. Therefore, perhaps Thibodeau was onto something when the Knicks seemed to make Brunson their top goal in the free-agent market even before his successful playoff run with the Mavericks the previous season.