Jalen Brunson looks set to be leaving the Dallas Mavericks for the New York Knicks this offseason. This will be a massive blow to the Mavericks but the Knicks rolled out the red carpet in trying to create room to ensure they could give Brunson a $110-million contract.
Brunson will take a meeting with New York and Dallas tomorrow, with the Miami Heat also joining the Brunson sweepstakes a little late. Miami will have to convince JB to sign with them over the other two and then figure out a sign-and-trade with Dallas, as the Heat don’t have cap space to sign Brunson outright.
New York has traded away 6 second-round picks in addition to Kemba Walker, Alec Burks, and Nerlens Noel in the last week. Their pursuit of Brunson has been incredibly aggressive, the kind teams usually pursue superstars with. This much effort for Brunson has upset many Knicks fans who are trolling the team for treating the Mavericks guard like a franchise-changing piece.
Imagine unloading your entire roster just for a chance to sign Jalen Brunson
— David Pauole (@Broncosboy4619) June 29, 2022
I’ve been a certified Brunson D rider all season long… but what in God’s name are the Knicks doing treating a Brunson acquisition like it’s franchise altering?
— Actual AZ Cardinals Fan (@PHXSunsfan3413) June 29, 2022
https://twitter.com/BasedGOATx/status/1541976596436815872
I cant wait for this train wreck lmao
— PAIN BOT (@bilbroswaggins3) June 29, 2022
They think he’s Him
— mls (@mlsnowack) June 29, 2022
Poor Jalen, he’ll face a lot of slandering from knicks fans this season.
— Coder (@jannonnn) June 29, 2022
U think those first round performances were real?
— Orson (@anosrePlivE) June 29, 2022
this is an all time tampering job
— fire nico harrison (@orangepineaple) June 29, 2022
This is funny, just try to remember not to blame Jalen Brunson. No player forces a team to offer them a contract if the Knicks want to give him a trillion dollars he should take and not remotely care what anyone thinks https://t.co/l2ffaOuNaq
— Robert Littal BSO (@BSO) June 29, 2022
Considering what point guards in the NBA are getting paid, a deal that averages out to $27 million a year is not nearly as bad for Brunson. He averaged over 20 points in the Playoffs and has been a solid guard for the Mavericks whenever Luka Doncic has been absent.
Dumping the contracts of Burks, Noel, and Walker cannot be considered a detriment to the Knicks considering how they missed the playoffs last season with this core. Burks may be the biggest hit but Jalen makes up for that with his ability to play as a guard.
The Knicks need more to round their roster out. With Dejounte Murray going to the Hawks, NY needs to look at investing the draft capital they still own to get a nice backup wing that can take the pressure off RJ Barrett. There are less than 24 hours until free agency opens up, so this seems to be headed towards an interesting ending.
