Simply put, the case against Brunson is he's small and not a great athlete. In the words of Popovich "he plays really smart, is a tough kid, he is skilled."
I think he can be an 18/4/5 guy ... but he needs to be able to consistently win his matchup, certainly against bigger guards like Reggie Jackson, but also hold his own against some fierce starting point guards. Curry, Lillard, Kyrie, Trae, Murray, Morant, Holiday, CP3, Conley, Lowry, Fox, Westbrook.
I struggle to see it and even a best case scenario has Brunson in the bottom half of the league's point guards.
Of course, you can add Luka to the mix and debate where Brunson+Luka might rank among the league's starting guard tandems ... but doing so brings some even bigger, stronger, more athletic opposing guards into the conversation ....and that's not good news for a small, slow guy like Brunson and an inconsistent defender like Luka.
All of that said, Brunson has certainly worked on his body. Has he developed elite NBA strength, speed, quickness? I just don't know.
I think he can be an 18/4/5 guy ... but he needs to be able to consistently win his matchup, certainly against bigger guards like Reggie Jackson, but also hold his own against some fierce starting point guards. Curry, Lillard, Kyrie, Trae, Murray, Morant, Holiday, CP3, Conley, Lowry, Fox, Westbrook.
I struggle to see it and even a best case scenario has Brunson in the bottom half of the league's point guards.
Of course, you can add Luka to the mix and debate where Brunson+Luka might rank among the league's starting guard tandems ... but doing so brings some even bigger, stronger, more athletic opposing guards into the conversation ....and that's not good news for a small, slow guy like Brunson and an inconsistent defender like Luka.
All of that said, Brunson has certainly worked on his body. Has he developed elite NBA strength, speed, quickness? I just don't know.