Rumors: Mavs ‘May Blink’ at Brunson’s Asking Price; Open to Knicks Trade?

Perhaps Brunson re-signing with the Mavs isn’t as sure of a thing as we once thought it was.

Dalton Trigg | Jun 14, 2022

The Dallas Mavericks have labeled Jalen Brunson’s free agency as being their top priority this offseason. Many have assumed Brunson will re-sign with the Mavs given that Dallas the ability to pay him more than any other team… but is there a line drawn in the sand?

Although there is mutual interest from Brunson and the Mavs on getting a new deal done, there might be a price point where GM Nico Harrison starts second-guessing his team’s top priority.

According to Bleacher Report’s Eric Pincus, a sign-and-trade with the New York Knicks isn’t completely out of the question yet.

“The Knicks looking to hire Rick Brunson, per Ian Begley of SNY, isn't a coincidence. His son, Dallas Mavericks free-agent Jalen Brunson, may be next,” writes Pincus.

“While New York won't have the cap room, multiple sources believe Dallas may blink at Brunson's asking price, compelled to sign and trade him to the Knicks.”

Brunson was incredible for the Mavs in his fourth season, averaging career highs in points (16.3) and assists (4.8) per game, as well as turning into a playoff hero in Dallas’ first-round series against the Utah Jazz. As good as Brunson has become, though, is it worth it for the Mavs to commit superstar-level money to a player who isn’t a superstar — especially if they can work out a decent sign-and-trade with the Knicks?

That will be up to the front office to decide, but if the Knicks want Brunson as badly as most people think they do, the Mavs should take full advantage if they have doubts about Brunson’s price tag. Here’s what we think the sign-and-trade should look like:

Note: Only 50 percent of Brunson’s hypothetical new salary applies to the outgoing salary for the Mavs in this scenario, per CBA rules. Also, for the Mavs to make this sign-and-trade legal, they would need to do a salary dump beforehand (Tim Hardaway Jr. to the Detroit Pistons is one example that comes to mind).

Mavs receive: Julius Randle, Immanuel Quickley, Mitchel Robinson (S&T for new $15 million per year contract)

Knicks receive: Jalen Brunson (S&T for new $28 million per year contract), Maxi Kleber (expiring contract), Davis Bertans

Published Jun 14, 2022

DALTON TRIGG

Dalton Trigg is the Editor-In-Chief for Dallas Basketball, as well as the Executive Editor overseeing Inside The Rockets, Inside The Spurs, All Knicks, and The Magic Insider. He is the founder and host for the Mavs Step Back Podcast, which is a proud part of the Blue Wire podcast network. Trigg graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi’s College of Business and Economic Development with a bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship in 2016. After spending a few years with multiple Dallas Mavericks-related blogs, including SB Nation’s Mavs Moneyball, Trigg joined DallasBasketball.com as a staff writer in 2018 and never looked back. At the start of 2022, he was promoted to the EIC title he holds now. Through the years, Trigg has conducted a handful of high-profile one-on-one interviews to add to his resume — in both writing and podcasting. Some of his biggest interviews have been with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, Mavs GM Nico Harrison, now-retired legend Dirk Nowitzki and many other current/former players and team staffers. Many of those interviews and other articles by Trigg have been aggregated by other well-known sports media websites, such as Yahoo Sports, CBS Sports, Bleacher Report and others. You can find Trigg on all major social media channels, but his most prevalent platform is on Twitter. Whether it’s posting links to his DBcom work, live-tweeting Mavs games or merely giving his opinions on things going on with Dallas and the rest of the NBA, the daily content never stops rolling. For any inquiries, please email Dalton@MavsStepBack.com.