Mavericks' Mark Cuban Admits to Whiffing on Jalen Brunson's Potential

The Dallas Mavericks let another talented guard walk out of the building, and it came back to bite them.

Nov 19, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) looks to move the ball past Dallas Mavericks forward P.J. Washington (25) during the second half at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Jalen Brunson is at the top of the world right now after leading the New York Knicks to their first NBA championship since 1973. He was electric throughout the series, but in the closeout Game 5, he had 45 points, all of which were needed as Karl-Anthony Towns fouled out.

That closeout performance led to him being named the Finals MVP. He scored over 40% of the Knicks' fourth quarter points, the most of any player since Dirk Nowitzki in 2011. That only hurts Dallas Mavericks fans more, as Nowitzki's last year in the NBA was shared with a rookie Jalen Brunson, who got to learn from Nowitzki and his fellow 2018 draftee, Luka Doncic.

The Mavericks let Brunson walk in the 2022 offseason, continuing a franchise-long trend of letting talented guards walk out the door and it coming back to bite them. Mark Cuban, who was the majority owner at the time and is now a minority owner, admits he didn't see Brunson becoming this type of player.

"It was really, really simple. We didn’t see JB as what he would become," Cuban admitted on the "House of Haymaker" podcast recently.

“He showed that star potential when Luka [Doncic] got hurt, and he won those games against Utah for us, but we were trying to get a star to put next to Luka, and JB’s star had not risen yet," he also said.

Cuban isn't exactly wrong; no one thought Brunson would be this type of player. Even if he played well in the 2022 playoffs, the Knicks were still heavily criticized for giving Brunson over $100 million that offseason.

Jun 13, 2026; San Antonio, Texas, USA; New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson holds the Finals MVP trophy during the championship celebration after game five of the 2026 NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs at Frost Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images | Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

Mavericks Continue Trend of Letting Star Guards Leave

While Brunson doesn't quite fit the mold of other mistakes the Mavericks have made with their guards, he certainly worked his way into that discussion. Between lettign Steve Nash and Jalen Brunson walk in free agency, and trading away Jason Kidd and Luka Doncic before they hit their primes, the Mavs always have a tendency to do this.

Dallas could have had a star backcourt of Luka Doncic and Jalen Brunson for the foreseeable future. Instead, the Mavs let Brunson walk, had to make a trade for Kyrie Irving (which worked) when his reputation wasn't exactly stellar, then traded away Luka Doncic, who made the whole team work.

One day, the Mavericks will learn to just hang on to their star guards.

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