Mavs & Jalen Brunson: The 3 Goof-Ups That 'Freed' Him to the Knicks

The three things that went wrong in the Dallas Mavs' mismanagement of Jalen Brunson are easily definable - once we fight beyond blind loyalty or ignorance.

DALLAS - We're not quite sure if yet another wave of the defending of the Dallas Mavericks' contractual botching of Jalen Brunson is because of blind loyalty to the team ...

Or because of ignorance.

But as Brunson continues to star in his first season with the New York Knicks - and as the Luka Doncic-led Mavs continue to hunger for a roster addition of a "second ball-handler who can score'' (sadly and ironically) - we sense MFFL's are in need of a quick review of what went wrong.

All three things that went wrong in the Dallas front office's mismanagement of Jalen Brunson.

1 - What Went Wrong With His Rookie Contract: Brunson was drafted in the second round in 2018, and rather than constructing his deal in the conventional manner -  adding a team option for the fourth year which would mean contractual control of Brunson as a restricted free agent in 2021 (giving Dallas the right to match any offer) - the Mavs gave him a straight four-year deal, enabling him to be an unrestricted free agent last summer.

Why? Our best answer is that led by former GM Donnie Nelson, Dallas was trying to "keep its powder dry'' (again) ... maybe because the Mavs wanted to make certain there was room to chase Giannis Antetokounmpo (or someone of that level) in 2021 free agency.

Had the Mavs simply given Brunson a conventional contract, Brunson would still be in Dallas.

2 - What Went Wrong With His Extension: Even after the departure of Nelson, the new regime had multiple opportunities to sign Brunson to a four-year, $56 million extension over the course of 2020.

They declined to do so.

In fact, our understanding at the time (confirmed by ESPN, complete with quotes from Brunson's dad, Rick) is that Jalen was prepared to sign that deal ... but that it wasn't offered until it was (in the eyes of the Brunsons) too late.

“I told the Mavericks, ‘Once the season is started, there’s no contract talk,’ (but) in January, I thought he did enough where he deserved [the extension]. I said, ‘Hey, take the money, man.’ He wants security. He wants to live here. And they declined (to offer the extension).

“He didn’t turn s*** down.''

Why did Dallas wait until after the ("too late'') Feb. 10 trade deadline? Maybe because it considered using Brunson as a trade chip. But even then, as we wondered at the time: Wouldn't a "Brunson under contract'' be a better trade chip than "a Brunson an expiring $1.8 million contract with unrestricted free agency looming''?

Had the Mavs simply given Brunson a conventional extension before that trade deadline, Brunson would still be in Dallas - and in fact would be in Dallas almost for the next half-decade.

3 - What Went Wrong With His Free Agency: This is the only part of the story that the Mavs defenders (whether "loyal'' or "ignorant'') almost get right. There was a point at which, after the Mavs goofed up the first time and after the Mavs goofed up a second time, when Jalen Brunson made up his mind to sign a four-year, $104 million contract with the Knicks.

But before that? The Mavs had one more shot at salvaging this - by out-bidding the Knicks in free agency in order to keep their second-best player.

"We can pay him more than anybody,” Mavs owner Cuban told Marc Stein after the Mavs’ season ended in the Western Conference Finals. ... and that wasn't a boast; it was a fact.

And yet ... the Mavs did not offer to pay Brunson more than anybody.

The Mavs (if we put aside one claim that the Mavs never gave an official offer, which if true adds to the bungling) wished to give Brunson about $21 million per year. 

The Knicks offered him about $26 million per year.

And to those who say the Mavs shouldn't have bothered to up the offer because Brunson is from New York and always wanted to leave Dallas?

“I talked about it with my dad since Year 1,'' he said well after the New York move, when it might have behooved him to celebrate all things Big Apple but as instead he told the truth. "I said, ‘Yeah, we’re going to be here (in Dallas) for the rest of my career.’ That’s what I thought.”

There is a separate argument here, that Mavs management simply never thought Brunson was ever going to be this good, in Dallas and certainly not in New York. That is a debate for another day (and one that Brunson's detractors would also lose).

But this is about how Brunson "went free.''

And, no. Jalen Brunson didn't leave "because he was free.'' Jalen Brunson was allowed to be "free'' because the Dallas Mavs whiffed on preventing that "freedom.''

Three swings. Three whiffs. You're out.

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