Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns secured a permanent place in New York sports history by helping the Knicks end a 53-year title drought, but how much did that improve their Hall of Fame chances? Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic examines that question in his annual look at players who have a chance to someday be enshrined in Springfield.

The title and the Finals MVP award seem to make Brunson a virtual lock for the Hall, especially when compared with players who’ve already gotten in, Vorkunov states. His resume compares favorably to Chauncey Billups, the 2004 Finals MVP, who was inducted in 2024 after making three All-NBA teams during his career. Brunson, a second-team All-NBA selection the past three years, has averaged 26.3 PPG since arriving in New York, and Vorkunov notes that it’s rare for a player of his status to be overlooked.

Vorkunov views the case for Towns as more complicated. He also has three All-NBA appearances, but never higher than third team, and he has never received a vote for MVP. He was named Rookie of the Year in 2016 and is considered one of the best shooting big men in the history of the game. However, he didn’t win much early in his career with Minnesota so his stats tended to overshadow everything else before the title run.

Elsewhere in the article, Vorkunov lists the active players who are considered to be locks, near locks, in the mix and “above the Michael Cooper line” to reach the Hall. He does the same for a handful of retired players, with Chris Paul and Kyle Lowry viewed as sure things to make it to Springfield.

Here’s more from around the basketball world:

• Deniro Laster, a friend of Terry Rozier and a co-defendant in his federal gambling trial, has asked the judge to throw out the charges against him and has signed onto to Rozier’s motions to dismiss the case, Vorkunov tweets.
• Luka Doncic is absent from the 19-man Slovenian roster that will compete in the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers later this month, according to Eurohoops. Doncic announced in June that he would be skipping this year’s qualifying windows to spend more time with his daughters. Jaxson Hayes is also missing, so his debut with Slovenia won’t happen this summer. After exhibition games against Latvia and Montenegro, Slovenia will travel to Paris to face France and then return home to host Hungary.
• A “sneak peek” at this year’s schedule will be provided Tuesday on “Good Morning America” and “The Today Show,” the NBA announced. The full schedule will be made public later this week (Twitter link).