The Dallas Mavericks took one of the biggest hits of the summer when they lost their second-best player, Jalen Brunson, to the New York Knicks. The Mavs didn’t get anything in return for developing Brunson from a second-round pick into a $100 million player, something analysts consider to be a massive blow to the team after they made the Western Conference Finals last season.
Mavs coach Jason Kidd gave Brunson a defined role in the Mavs offense next to Luka and made him fit the team better. This led to Brunson’s success and his value jumping up to get the contract he did from the Knicks. Kidd has no hard feelings toward Brunson, as he revealed on the ‘All The Smoke; podcast.
“Cool. I can help you do that. The other part of that is I’m going to ask for a couple of things. Trust, communicate and play hard. If you ask Brunson, he will tell you he listened [to me] and good things happened. I just want to put people in position to be successful.’’
“There’s 30 companies in the NBA,’’ Kidd said. “We all can’t stay in the same company. For him to go to New York to get paid and an opportunity to run his own team. I’m happy for him.’’ (h/t New York Post)
Will Jalen Brunson Be Worth The Gamble For New York?
Now that the Knicks failed to trade for Donovan Mitchell, Brunson is going to be crucial to their guard play in 2022-23. He’s their biggest addition and will have to help lead them to the playoffs for his contract to not be looked at as an overpay.
Brunson played exceptionally in the 2022 playoffs and stepped in for Luka Doncic whenever Luka was out with injury. However, a lot of this credit goes to Kidd for using Brunson in a way that made a massive difference on the court. Brunson was a different player in the 2022 playoffs than he was in 2021 when he struggled against the Clippers in Rick Carlisle’s system.
Hopefully, coach Tom Thibodeau finds a way to maximize what Brunson brings to the team. There is no dominant ball-handler like Luka Doncic for Brunson to factor into, so he could be the one running the show and hopefully bringing the Knicks back to the playoffs.
