Jalen Brunson

Somehow, someway, the Dallas Mavericks always seem to bungle things when it comes to NBA free agency ... not only with trying to add star players, ...

Given that Brunson was unrestricted, there's a chance that he still could've left no matter what the Mavs offered ... but the Mavs are claiming that they never gave an official offer, and that's a preposterous thing to say about your own free agent who you've talked with for four years now. Even if the Mavs thought $27 million+ per year was an overpay for Brunson, the downside to that was nothing compared to the downside of losing him for nothing – which they did (a sign-and-trade with New York could still be possible, but isn't likely). Instead of adding a team option for the fourth year and giving Brunson the opportunity to hit the restricted free agency market in 2021, he received a straight four-year deal, enabling him to be an unrestricted free agent this summer. The only thing that would've changed by presenting Brunson with an acceptable offer is Cuban's wallet. After making all those miscalculations with Brunson, the Mavs still could've made up for their previous mistakes by out-bidding the Knicks in free agency in order to keep their second-best player. If the Mavs' reported offer of $105 million over five years is true ... did they really believe that was going to be enough?

A breakdown and grading of Jalen Brunson's 4-year, $104 million dollar deal with the New York Knicks in 2022 NBA Free Agency.

Brunson was often left in the shadows last season by the media due to the Luka Doncic effect. The New York Knicks swooped in and stole Jalen Brunson from the Dallas Mavericks. New York signed the guard to a 4-year, $104 million dollar deal. Adding someone with the playmaking ability of Brunson should aid his development. To make matters worse, the team had lofty expectations entering the season. The New York Knicks endured a miserable 2021-2022 campaign. But was this a good move by the Knicks?

With Jalen Brunson leaving the Mavericks breaking earlier in the week, we opted to see where the fanbase is in terms of which party involved in the signing ...

Let me know in the comments. Interestingly, Jalen Brunson took second place here with 26%, and as we learn more about how this entire process went about, that attitude may shift. Mark Cuban walked away with the highest percentage at 27% and to some degree that makes sense.

The Dallas Mavericks just lost one of their most impressive playoff performers in Jalen Brunson yesterday as the point guard signed a 4-year contract worth ...

The best way for the Mavs to succeed this season will be to add competent shooters and scorers around Luka who have great movement off the ball. Proving to be a great second option, Brunson showed Dallas why he could be a viable second option for the team. "Luka's similar to LeBron offensively is that he's ball dominant, he's the system, everyone has to play off him and we've all talked about how a player that can create his own shot and create his own offense, can get frustrated playing with LeBron or with Luka because they create everything and they you kind of can just be relegated to being a spot up shooter at the three or at least you know a guy creating for you."

How much better is the Knicks' 2022-23 outlook after the Jalen Brunson free agent signing? We look at how New York's odds to win the NBA Championship ...

Unless you’re a die-hard Knicks fan who tends to be a bit subjective, it’s best to refrain from getting involved in Knicks 2023 postseason futures unless it's something more attainable like "odds to make the playoffs." In terms of an implied probability, New York’s chances to win the 2023 NBA Finals went from 0.40 percent to 0.99 percent. After trading away draft capital in a sequence of questionable moves to clear cap space, the Knicks made their big move in free agency by inking former Mavericks guard Jalen Brunson to a four-year, 104 million dollar deal.

How much more room does Jalen Brunson have to grow? TSN's Scott Rafferty takes a closer look after the former Maverick agreed to a massive deal with the ...

Brunson is at his best when he's creating out of the pick-and-roll, and he's proven to be a pretty good one-on-one scorer. At the time of this writing, Brunson's $26 million annual average salary ranks 15th among point guards and could drop as more players sign this summer and next. That's quite impressive considering he went from having the same usage rate as a role player like Goran Dragic to a primary creator like Anthony Edwards. No. Is he a starting-caliber guard with room still to grow? So is Brunson a star? Nearly a fifth of his shot attempts in 2021-22 were catch-and-shoot 3s, and he canned them at a healthy 40.1 percent clip. After riding shotgun next to Luka Doncic in a supporting role, Brunson will get the opportunity to show what he can do behind the wheels. He posted the best numbers of his career to the tune of 16.3 points, 4.8 assists and 3.9 rebounds on .502/.373/.840 shooting splits. Brunson shines as a midrange scorer. He's also kind of a bully. He then took his game to another level in the playoffs, helping the Mavericks make the Western Conference Finals with averages of 21.6 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game. Outside of scoring, Brunson is a solid passer and while he's a limited defender, he's smart and is almost always in the right place.

New York finally got its point guard in Jalen Brunson, but are other moves on the way?

But the Brunson move—and the flurry of second-rounders New York moved to make it possible—only qualifies as a game-changer if it's a precursor to something else. Will Brunson—a player who enjoyed far more space with the Mavs’ four- and sometimes five-out lineups—be able to probe the gaps in New York? He’s not someone who gets to the line at an enormous clip, so the Knicks likely won’t be able to rely on him generating a bunch of points that way. In light of that, the $26 million figure doesn’t seem like a wild overpay for someone who can score and get his own shot the way Brunson can. Some will knock Brunson’s $26 million per year price tag, saying it’s ludicrous to pay that for an undersized player who’s had the benefit of backing up and playing alongside a perennial MVP candidate in Mavericks star Luka Dončić. Assuming that happens, contracts like Brunson’s will eat a smaller share of the cap.