At this time last year, there were questions — questions about whether Jalen Brunson was overpaid, questions about whether he was capable of being a leading man, questions about whether his breakout 2022 postseason was an anomaly or an indication of untapped potential.

He answered all of those with a series of exclamation marks, emerging as a top lead guard in the NBA, a player who is now considered grossly underpaid and an unquestioned leader for the Knicks.

After wins, he credited his teammates, even when he was the obvious star.

Following losses, Brunson blamed himself, despite strong performances.

When the Knicks’ season ended in a heartbreaking Game 6 loss to Miami, a game in which Brunson produced a brilliant 41-point effort, he harped on his late turnover. He was a perfect fit with coach Tom Thibodeau and the culture the Knicks are building.

He guided the orange-and-blue to their best season in a decade, a 47-win campaign and the franchise’s first playoff series victory since 2013.

He was still somewhat overlooked, an All-Star and All-NBA snub, until his brilliant postseason in which he outplayed Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell in the first round and was the lone Knick the Heat couldn’t slow down in the second round.

The latest indication of Brunson’s star turn came with his selection to Team USA’s World Cup team and his role so far as the team’s starting point guard.

Some thought that might go to Pacers All-Star Tyrese Haliburton, but Brunson has beat him out to this point.

“I think Jalen is such a natural leader,” Warriors and Team USA coach Steve Kerr told ESPN. “Because he’s a point guard, he immediately comes to mind. He’s the one who’s leading the ‘1, 2, 3, USA’ chant. Some guys just, it just comes naturally to them.”

Brunson has raised the bar. There is now outward pressure and expectations for him. He is expected to be great. He is The Guy with the Knicks.

He is expected not only to lead them on the floor and off, but to match his terrific first season on Broadway, when he averaged 24.0 points, 6.2 assists and shot 41.6 percent from 3-point range.

That’s not to say the Knicks are expected to be a title contender next season without adding a significant co-star. But Brunson’s presence, and the Knicks reaching the playoffs two out of the past three seasons, has changed the narrative. This is now considered a winning team with a winning player leading the way.

There is added scrutiny with that. Brunson is no longer a mystery. He is the player the opposition will game plan for. He is the guy teams will look to stop.

The next step in his evolution is building off last season. He will enter this season with very different expectations than when he arrived in New York City.

That should only motivate Brunson further.

He’s always believed he had the potential to do this.

Ask anyone close to him — teammates, friends, coaches — and they’ll tell you this is what they saw at Villanova.

Success doesn’t create complacency with the guy. It drives him to get even better. He even moved his wedding up, so he could train with the national team.

The Knicks are counting on that relentless ambition next season.

Watching the dismal New York baseball summer has me thinking about the Knicks and why their fans should be so optimistic.

A major issue with the Yankees and Mets has been age, players on the downsides of their careers being dragged down by injury and underperformance.

The Knicks are the opposite of that. They are young — with plenty of players who may only get better.

With the Knicks finalizing a reported four-year, $81 million extension with Josh Hart, they have almost their entire core locked in for the next few years.

Brunson, Hart, RJ Barrett, Mitchell Robinson, Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo and Quentin Grimes (team option in 2024-25) are under contract for the next two years. Only Immanuel Quickley, who is now eligible for his rookie-scale extension before becoming a restricted free agent after next season, isn’t part of that mix.

All are 28 years or younger. Nobody is making more than $29 million per season. The Knicks are positioned incredibly well to land the next superstar who becomes available.

Team president Leon Rose has his faults — it would be nice to hear from the guy — but he has done very well in creating a young roster with flexibility and depth rather than recklessly splurging in free agency.

Young teams often improve. Older ones regress. The baseball season around here is a pretty good example of that.

Obviously, shooting is a major area of work for Barrett. It is every offseason.

But one area that he has spent extended time on this summer is using his strength. It’s one of his major assets on the wing.

“We’ve spent time on his shiftiness, but really he’s not a shifty player. Some players are stiffer than others, but he is really, really strong and he’s really good with his hand swipes,” his trainer, Drew Hanlen, said on the “Big Knick Energy” podcast. “So this summer, instead of spending time with shiftiness, which hasn’t clicked over the last year-and-a-half-ish of trying to implement that in some of his workouts, we really spent more time on getting outside defenders’ hips so that he can use his strength to get through defenders instead of naturally shifting them.

“There’s two ways to beat defenders: No. 1, you shift them east-west and then you beat them north-south, or No. 2, you shift east-west and then go north-south. We kind of shifted away from, ‘Alright, let’s try to move our defenders,’ to, ‘Hey, let’s move outside our defenders to use your strength as an advantage.’ It’s got him a lot better results. He’s playing a lot more one-on-one this summer.”