Mavs' Mark Cuban Can't Afford Another Jalen Brunson Mistake with Kyrie Irving Free Agency

Mark Cuban says there was nothing the Dallas Mavericks could've done to keep Jalen Brunson in free agency last year. OK. But he must find a way to pull through and re-sign Kyrie Irving this time around.

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is a very rich man, but even he might not be able to afford another fumbled offseason like his team experienced last summer ... at least in the sense of retaining credibility around the league and among MFFLs.

Cuban swears the Mavs weren't given the opportunity to re-sign Jalen Brunson last summer, who ended up leaving for the New York Knicks and signing a four-year, $104 million contract.

"Where it went south was when Rick [Brunson, Jalen's dad] took over," Cuban told the media on Wednesday. "We thought that we could turn him around [from wanting to leave for New York]. We wanted to re-sign him and we wanted to keep the season going together. We thought, because JB kept on telling us he liked being here ... JB never gave us an indication. It was only the parents that were the issue. Even the agent said, worst case, we can do a sign-and-trade."

Cuban can cling to all the reasons (excuses?) he wants to, but the fact is, the Mavs screwed up that situation up. Badly. 

There was a certain level of respect for Brunson's game that was lacking from the Mavs' front office, which was evident by the team not offering him a contract extension even before his breakout season – which he would've 100-percent been worth.

Sure, Brunson had strong family ties to New York, but he also got offered $100 million with zero hesitation, and that surely went a long way in the Knicks gaining his commitment over the team that wasn't sure if he was worth $56 million before the 2021-22 season began. Cuban claims Brunson's camp "never gave us a number," but if the Mavs wanted to keep him bad enough, why didn't they keep throwing out a higher number themselves until it got Brunson's attention?

Dallas has suffered greatly from that bungled situation, as it has gone from being a Western Conference Finals runner-up to clawing for just a chance at being the last play-in tournament team this season.

It has been a long, painful fall from grace for the Mavs, but now, they must focus on not making the same mistakes this summer with star point guard Kyrie Irving, who they traded two key starters in Dorian Finney-Smith and Spencer Dinwiddie to the Brooklyn Nets for, as well as a future first-round pick and two second-round picks. The trade hasn't paid off yet, as the Mavs' gutted depth and defense hasn't been able to finish off close games, but individually, Irving has fit in like a glove.

Cuban says re-signing Irving is Dallas' top priority for the offseason, but those words will be taken with a grain of salt by many due to him saying the same thing about Brunson last year around this same time.

"I'd love to have him stay, for sure," Cuban said. "I'd love to have him. I want him to stay for sure, and I think we have a good shot. I think he's happy here. He tells me he's happy here, and I get along great with him. I think he's a good guy. All I can tell you is everything I thought I knew about Kyrie because of everything I read was 100-percent wrong."

Last year, Cuban infamously said the Mavs could "pay [Brunson] more than anyone else," but that didn't happen. 

The same is true with Irving this summer, as the Mavs can offer him up to five years, $272 million if needed. However, Cuban doesn't seem like he's too excited to commit to that big of a number just yet.

"I don't know, I guess there's always too high a price, depending," Cuban said. "But now with the new CBA, it's a different world."

When Cuban says he'd love to re-sign Irving, what he really means - maybe - is that he'd love to re-sign him at the Mavs' preferred price. It was the same way with Brunson.

It's understandable that Cuban doesn't want to bid against himself. But he needs to be careful not to insult Irving with the Mavs' initial offer this summer.

At age 31, money surely means a lot to Irving on this next contract, but being respected as a superstar player who is an NBA champion will play a big role as well. The Mavs have limited ways to improve their roster going forward due to their lack of future draft assets, so retaining Irving is vital for the future of this franchise.

And here's the frightening forecast: If another offseason goes off the rails like the last one did, the next series of nerve-racking "we'd love to re-sign" comments from Cuban, in the eyes of worried MFFLs, could be about Luka Doncic three years from now.

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