Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic reflected on his former teammate, Jalen Brunson’s performance for the New York Knicks in the 2024 Playoffs. Doncic expressed his happiness for his 2018 Draft classmate.
“Amazing. He’s doing everything for them. I saw the game yesterday. He had a quiet 40. I didn’t even know he had 40 until I looked it up. He gets to his spots whenever he wants. That’s my guy. I’m really happy for him.”
Luka Doncic on Jalen Brunson's recent playoff performances:
"Amazing. He's doing everything for them. I saw the game yesterday. He had a quiet 40. I didn't even know he had 40 until I looked it up. He gets to his spots whenever he wants. That's my guy. I'm really happy for him."
— Mike Curtis (@MikeACurtis2) May 7, 2024
Brunson and Doncic were very close friends after being drafted by the Mavericks together in 2018. That might be one of the greatest draft nights in Dallas history, but Brunson leaving the team after four seasons means that the Mavs never got to see Brunson the way he’s playing now. At least they’ll always have the 2022 Conference Finals run to reminisce over.
Jalen is averaging 36.6 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 8.6 assists in the 2024 Playoffs, a huge increase from his incredible regular season stats of 28.7 points and 6.7 assists.
Doncic has always been regarded as the better player, but Brunson is outperforming him in the 2024 Playoffs, with Luka averaging 29.8 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 9.5 assists in the postseason.
These two have similar play-styles which explains why Brunson couldn’t thrive as the secondary ball-handler behind Luka. Kyrie Irving is a better fit given his off-ball scoring ability while Brunson gets to run his own team instead of settling for second units or Luka injuries.
Luka Doncic Knew Jalen Brunson Would Take A Leap
Doncic is one of the smartest players in the NBA right now and he saw Brunson taking a massive leap during the 2022 NBA Playoffs given how he carried Dallas to the second round with Luka out injured for the first three games of that playoff run.
“I would say one game that really was impressive on that playoff run, we lose the first game against Utah, I don’t play the first three games… That second game, I think he had like 45, something like that. It was a tough game, and we needed a win no matter what. That was really impressive. I was just on the bench watching like ‘Wow, this guy’s amazing.’ But just starting the first time we got together, the way he worked out every day, coming back in the afternoon, it was just amazing to play with that.”
The Knicks had notoriously sent scouts to watch that Mavs vs. Jazz series in 2022 to evaluate Brunson and Donovan Mitchell. They clearly saw what they liked and moved tons of salary to open up the space to offer Brunson a contract that Mark Cuban and the Mavericks chose not to match.
That decision might not haunt the team anymore as they’re in the second round of the playoffs with Kyrie Irving in Brunson’s old role, but Brunson’s departure directly led to the Mavericks failing to make the 2023 Playoffs.
If the Doncic era in Dallas doesn’t lead to championship success, the decision to let Brunson walk will always be brought up for the Mavericks. It’s eerily similar to how they let Steve Nash leave Dirk Nowitzki as the duo was about to hit their peak.
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