Getty Luka Doncic and Jalen Brunson react during a bout between the Dallas Mavericks and the Portland Trail Blazers.
What Jalen Brunson has been able to do for the New York Knicks this season has been nothing short of inspiring after the team’s woeful 2021-22 campaign. While Kemba Walker and Alec Burks didn’t exactly set a high bar at the point guard position, the former Dallas Mavericks floor general has cleared whatever standard they did establish several times over.
As awesome as things have been in NYC, though, Brunson’s exit in the Big D has arguably been just as impactful for the Mavs in the polar opposite direction.
After making it all the way to the Western Conference Finals last season — where they lost to the eventual-champion Golden State Warriors — the Mavs currently find themselves just outside of the play-in zone in the West at 37-42 (No. 11 in the conference, one game behind the No. 10 Oklahoma City Thunder).
Mavs star Luka Doncic has blamed a lack of chemistry on the hardwood for the backward slide and, very clearly, he believes that losing Brunson is at the center of that shortfall.
Mavericks’ Luka Doncic Comes Clean on Missing Jalen Brunson After Guard’s Big Knicks Move
During a rare post-practice media session on Tuesday, Doncic was asked whether his team — which added eight-time All-Star Kyrie Irving to its mix ahead of the NBA trade deadline — was feeling confident heading into its last three regular-season games. In response, he conceded that his club isn’t exactly riding high at the moment.
“I think you don’t see that chemistry that we had before. I mean, especially last year. I think that chemistry was at the top with everybody but, you know, chemistry builds and not right away, so it’s a long process,” Doncic said, via the Dallas Morning News.
Of course, Brunson played a significant role in getting the Mavs to where they got in 2021-22. After logging what was then a career-best 16-5-4 line for the team during the regular season, the point guard reached new heights during postseason play, upping his scoring average to 21.6 PPG.
Asked whether he and his teammates have missed Brunson amid the recent downturn, Doncic made little attempt to conceal the truth.
“A lot,” Doncic said as he flashed a pained smile and shrugged his shoulders. “I mean, amazing guy, amazing player. For sure.”
Mavericks’ Poor Negotiation Tactics All But Forced Brunson to Join Knicks
Brunson and his father, Knicks assistant Rick Brunson, have made it clear that the Villanova product was more than willing to commit to the Mavs long-term before last season. And the price tag would have been significantly less than what he ended up getting from the Knicks in free agency. In the end, though, Dallas decided to shut the baller out instead.
“There were two times that I thought we had offers on the table before the season, and then around, I think December or January, they looked the other way,” Brunson told Bleacher Report’s Chris Haynes recently. “They had every right in the world to do so. I don’t blame them for making any business decisions. That’s on them.”
Per Haynes, the contract extension that Brunson was eyeing came in at four years and $55 million. After not getting that deal, he went on to sign a four-year, $104 million pact with the Knicks — who are officially playoff-bound in the East.