How the Knicks won Jalen Brunson away from the Mavericks

The Mavericks may have believed they could keep Jalen Brunson in Dallas. According to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, they underestimated one important factor.

“The Knicks were his actual family.”

Shelburne detailed Brunson’s longstanding ties to the Knicks organization in a lengthy profile, noting that team president Leon Rose previously represented both Brunson and his father, Rick Brunson, as an agent.

When the Knicks hired Rick Brunson as an assistant coach shortly before Jalen Brunson reached free agency in 2022, many around the league viewed New York as the favorite to land the talented guard.

“I think Jalen had a loyalty to the Mavs because they’d drafted him, but the Knicks were his actual family,” a Mavericks source told ESPN. “I don’t think we fully grasped that.”

Dallas selected Brunson in the second round of the 2018 NBA Draft and quickly paired him with franchise star Luka Doncic.

However, the Mavericks passed on multiple opportunities to sign Brunson to an extension before he reached free agency.

According to Shelburne, Brunson even indicated during the 2021-22 season that he would sign an extension if one was offered. Dallas instead chose to keep its options open.

The decision proved costly. Brunson signed a four-year, $104 million contract with New York in the summer of 2022, a deal some critics initially labeled an overpay.

Instead, it became one of the NBA’s best bargains.

Now Brunson is a perennial All-Star and has the Knicks two wins away from their first NBA championship since 1973.

Former Knick Jamal Crawford believes the fit was obvious.

“They empowered him. They believed in him,” Crawford said. “With that comfortability, I think you’re going to get the best of him.”