How New York Landed Jalen Brunson After Dallas Hesitated
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The Dallas Mavericks entered the 2022 offseason believing they could keep guard Jalen Brunson. According to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, the organization misjudged the pull of Brunson’s long-standing connections with the New York Knicks.
Knicks president Leon Rose had previously represented both Brunson and his father, Rick Brunson, during his career as a player agent. That relationship deepened when New York added Rick Brunson to Tom Thibodeau’s coaching staff shortly before free agency opened in 2022.
“I think Jalen had a loyalty to the Mavs because they’d drafted him, but the Knicks were his actual family,” a Mavericks source told ESPN. “I don’t think we fully grasped that.”
The missed extension
Dallas selected Brunson in the second round of the 2018 NBA Draft and quickly paired him with star guard Luka Dončić. Multiple chances to lock Brunson into a long-term deal followed, yet the Mavericks declined to offer an extension. Shelburne reported that during the 2021-22 season, Brunson signaled he would have accepted one.
Without an agreement, Brunson reached free agency and accepted a four-year, $104 million contract with New York in July 2022. Critics initially questioned the price, but the pact has since been regarded as one of the league’s most favorable.
Rapid payoff in New York
Brunson has since developed into a perennial All-Star candidate and has the Knicks within two victories of their first NBA championship since 1973. Former Knick Jamal Crawford said the organization’s faith in the 27-year-old has been decisive: “They empowered him. They believed in him. With that comfort, you’re going to get the best of him.”
Source: Hoops Wire
