While the Mavs have just won against Sacramento tonight to stay alive for the “play in” in the Western Conference, the Knicks are already qualified for the playoffs in the East. Already planning their strategy for their upcoming first round against Cleveland…
The loss of Jalen Brunson thus hurt the Mavs very badly, who, according to Luka Doncic, had a “very disappointing season”, without ever regaining the balance that had allowed them to reach the last conference final.
“It went downhill when Rick took control, when the parents entered the dance”explained a Mark Cuban who obviously needed to empty his bag on ESPN. “We weren’t going to make such a big decision after what Aaron told us [Mintz, son agent] about what his father wanted in July. And Nico [Harrison, le GM des Mavs] told me in February [de l’an passé] that he agreed with me, but that the interest with New York was too closely tied to his family to overcome. »
The president of the Knicks, Leon Rose, is indeed very close to the Brunson family, because he is simply the godfather of Jalen, and was his first agent. Before that, Rick Brunson, Jalen’s father, had been the first player represented by Leon Rose when he started out in the business.
And Rick Brunson was hired as an assistant coach by Tom Thibodeau even before the start of the “free agency”. For their part, the Mavs have been rather wait-and-see, and they can now bite their fingers!
Mark Cuban says he had no luck negotiating
“We thought we could change his mind,” continues Mark Cuban when asked why the Mavs didn’t just trade Jalen Brunson last season. “We wanted to extend it and above all we wanted to keep the same group to finish the season together. We thought it was possible because JB continued to maintain that he was fine with us. JB never gave us any indication [qu’il voulait partir]. The only problem was the parents. Even his agent told us: at worst, we can do a sign and trade. »
To prove his point, Mark Cuban bluntly showed the journalists present text messages from Nico Harrison and Aaron Mitz dating from last year, the latter explaining that Jalen Brunson thought (on the advice of his father?) to be able to obtain a contract between 18 and $23 million per season over the summer and therefore didn’t really want to extend for $54 million over four years, the maximum Dallas could offer him last season, unless he traded .
An exact prediction since Jalen Brunson has squarely obtained $ 104 million over four years at the Knicks.
Possessing the “Bird rights” of Jalen Brunson, the Mavs however had the possibility of offering the most money to their left-handed point guard. But Mark Cuban insists that his franchise couldn’t even get to that stage of negotiations because the Brunson clan never mentioned a sum. And so extension…
“We didn’t know what their offer was. They never gave us a number. Now that we know him, I can tell you that I would have gladly paid for that, but he wouldn’t have come back anyway. It can’t be because of the money. There was no negotiation. They didn’t give us a number. We had a pre-existing relationship with the agent and they should give us a chance to continue after we helped develop the player for four years. We should have worked together…”
| Jalen Brunson | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Crew | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 2018-19 | LAD | 73 | 22 | 46.7 | 34.8 | 72.5 | 0.3 | 2.0 | 2.3 | 3.2 | 1.7 | 0.5 | 1.2 | 0.1 | 9.3 |
| 2019-20 | LAD | 57 | 18 | 46.6 | 35.8 | 81.3 | 0.4 | 2.0 | 2.4 | 3.3 | 1.3 | 0.4 | 1.2 | 0.1 | 8.2 |
| 2020-21 | LAD | 68 | 25 | 52.3 | 40.5 | 79.5 | 0.4 | 3.0 | 3.4 | 3.5 | 1.6 | 0.5 | 1.2 | 0.0 | 12.6 |
| 2021-22 | LAD | 79 | 32 | 50.2 | 37.3 | 84.0 | 0.5 | 3.4 | 3.9 | 4.8 | 1.9 | 0.8 | 1.6 | 0.0 | 16.3 |
| 2022-23 | NYK | 68 | 35 | 49.1 | 41.6 | 82.9 | 0.6 | 3.0 | 3.5 | 6.2 | 2.2 | 0.9 | 2.1 | 0.2 | 24.0 |
| Total | 345 | 27 | 49.3 | 38.6 | 81.2 | 0.5 | 2.7 | 3.1 | 4.2 | 1.8 | 0.6 | 1.5 | 0.1 | 14.3 | |
How to read the stats? MJ = matches played; Min = Minutes; Shots = Shots made / Shots attempted; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def= defensive rebound; Tot = Total bounces; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost bullets; Ct: Counters; Points = Points.
