Jalen Brunson New Contract with Mavs 'Basically a Done Deal'
Although the Dallas Mavericks have always been viewed as the favorites to retain Jalen Brunson's services when free agency begins on June 30, that hasn't stopped rumors from brewing. The New York Knicks, who have long been fans of Brunson's game, went as far as hiring his dad, Rick Brunson, as an assistant coach in what many viewed as being a recruiting strategy. Now, they're reportedly in the process of trying to clear out enough cap space to offer Brunson a contract that is in the $25 million per year range.
Brunson is likely flattered by the Knicks' gestures, but it appears that New York could be wasting its time. Aside from just getting a much-deserved pay raise, Brunson wants to be in a winning situation. He is pretty much guaranteed both of those things by staying in Dallas, whereas the latter part of that would be a question mark in New York.
According to a report by Bleacher Report's Jake Fischer, the Knicks might want to start moving on to other free agency plans.
"It does still sound like Dallas is by far the leader in the clubhouse to retain [Jalen Brunson]," said Fischer. "I've even heard that he has told former teammates and current teammates that it's basically like a done deal."
After becoming a full-time starting for coach Jason Kidd, and then helping lead the Mavs to the Western Conference finals as the team's second-best player next to Luka Doncic, Brunson should be able to have his cake and eat it too in Dallas. Although some might view a contract of potentially $25 million per year an overpay for Brunson, who is to say the 25-year-old won't continue to improve the same way he has every year since being drafted in 2018.
In 79 regular-season games, Brunson averaged career highs with 16.3 points and 4.8 assists per game while shooting 50 percent from the field, including 37.3 percent from deep. In 18 postseason games, he upped his production to 21.6 points per game while still averaging 4.6 rebounds and 3.7 assists. In the first round alone, against the Utah Jazz, Brunson averaged 27.8 points per game, which included a 41-point outburst in Game 2 and a 31-point follow-up performance in Game 3 with Doncic out due to injury.
You can follow Dalton Trigg on Twitter at @dalton_trigg
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