Jalen Brunson reveals the Mavericks refused to offer him a four-year $55m extension TWICE before he eventually left Dallas to join the New York Knicks
Jalen Brunson has reaffirmed his claims that the Dallas Mavericks refused to offer him a contract extension twice before he left the team as a free agent.
Brunson told it earlier Bleacher Report in March that the Mavericks opted not to offer him a four-year, $55 million extension that he would have accepted to stay in Dallas.
Instead, he joined the New York Knicks and was fantastic this season, earning a first-time NBA All-Star selection.
He recently repeated the claim during an episode of ‘All The Smoke’ with Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes.
βI really wanted to stay in Dallas,β Brunson said, to the shock of many, during the podcast appearance.
Jalen Brunson reaffirmed that the Dallas Mavericks declined to offer him a contract extension
Brunson played four seasons in Dallas before signing with New York as a free agent in 2022
‘I wanted to stay there, I thought I would stay there for a long time and I liked my role there. It’s funny because my agent said, “You can do so much, you can get more, you can get more.” I say, “Well, I want to be safe.”
βI’m trying not to gamble at the moment. This isn’t something you really gamble with if it’s available. But (the Mavericks) said, βWe want to see where we are 20, 25 games into the season.β We were like, “Okay, if you’re not going to do it, I don’t really want to do it until after the season. I’m trying not to think about this (during the season).”
βSo there was a period where Luka (Doncic) went out and I started starting. I played really well, I think I averaged twenty and six, maybe, whatever. It was about that 20, 25 (game) mark.
“And so we went back and said, ‘Hey, when the deal comes together, we’ll think about it. I’ll do it, like now.’ Yet it was no. It wasn’t difficult no, it was just: “We want to see, we want to see”.’
Brunson’s good play this season was enough to earn him his first career All-Star title
Brunson went on to say that he ultimately thought he would be traded due to the lack of an extension, and when the Mavericks tried to renege on the offer, it was too late.
βI thought, ‘No, I think I’ve outgrown that now,’β Brunson said. “Personally, I thought so too.”
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban had a different stance on matters last year, going on to claim that Brunson and his representation never gave Dallas a chance to even match the four-year, $104 million deal the All-Star signed with the Knicks.
βIf I knew the numbers now, I would have paid it in a heartbeat, but he wouldn’t have come anyway,β Cuban said. ESPN.
The month before Brunson signed with the Knicks, New York had hired his father Rick as an assistant coach after previously working with head coach Tom Thibodeau with the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2016.
When Rick was a player, he was represented by Knicks team president Leon Rose, who also happens to be Brunson’s godfather.
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban claimed that Brunson never gave them the opportunity to offer him a deal
In December 2022, the NBA punished the Knicks by stripping them of a 2022 second-round pick after saying they tampered with Brunson by having conversations before the official start of free agency.
Brunson also addressed Cuban during the conversation when he said, βSo he says that in an interview, whatever, literally right after the game,β Brunson told Jackson and Barnes.
“So I’m like, ‘Okay.’ After that it was just like crickets. From my point of view β I can’t speak to anyone else, nor to my agent’s point of view β from my point of view they were crickets.’
The βthatβ Brunson was referring to was an excerpt from X in which Cuban said, βWe can pay him more than anyone else. And I think he wants to stay, and that’s more important.”
Brunson earned his first All-Star title this season thanks to his stellar play, averaging 27.6 points and 6.5 assists per game. He also participated in the 3-point contest.