Jalen Brunson provides details on facing $55 million snub from Mavs

Jalen Brunson has been an ever-present part of the high-flying Knicks this season. With the Knicks kicking about in the Eastern Conference at the 4th place, a lot of credit should go to Brunson.

After his move to the NY-based franchise, Brunson has taken his game to a new level and cemented himself as the backbone of the team. But this should be credited to not only Brunson but partly to the Mavericks as well, for a reason that’ll leave many of the Dallas faithful enraged.

Jalen Brunson reveals Mavs snubbing him twice over contract

In a recent episode of All the Smoke podcast with Matt Barnes, Brunson revealed what really happened at Mavs ahead of his 2022 free agency. The 2018 NBA draft pick went on record to say how he wanted to stay in Dallas and even asked for a contract twice. His desire to keep playing alongside Luka Doncic was subsequently binned by Mavs on two separate occasions.

“I really did want to stay in Dallas. Before my fourth season in Dallas, my last season in Dallas, we tried to extend our contract. … The most we could get was, like, four years and $55 million. Obviously, we wanted to do that. I wanted to stay there. I thought I would be there for a long time and I liked my role there,” said Brunson about his situation at Mavs.

Now with the Knicks, he is in the second year of his $104 million contract which is just short of double the amount he asked for at Mavs. This deal seems to benefit Brunson both financially and progressively after his sour exit from Dallas.

How was Brunson’s Mavs career?

Jalen Brunson, after a successful college basketball career, entered the 2018 NBA draft. Despite his extensive pre-NBA resume, he was picked up in the second round as the 33rd overall pick. JB went on to play for the Mavs for four seasons, of which, three were in a 6th man role.

In 2021-22 he transitioned into a more first-team role and the Mavs went on an impressive playoff run before eventually falling to the Warriors in the Conference Finals.

Across those 4 seasons, Brunson played 277 times for the Mavs while averaging 11.6 points per game. His rebound and assist average stands at 3 and 3.7 respectively.

This season with the Knicks, JB has averaged 27.6 points per game so far, testament of the player he has become. Now probably Mavs are thinking, they might have fumbled the bag.