Evaluating Knicks' Chances of Landing Jalen Brunson Amid NBA Free-Agency Rumors

The New York Knicks appear to be in a full-court offseason press for Jalen Brunson.

The 25-year-old is the one player who has been mentioned most with regard to the Knicks' offseason plans, and it could be down to them and the Dallas Mavericks to land the rights to him for the next few years.

Alex Schiffer of The Athletic broke down New York's quest to land Brunson while discussing the Kyrie Irving situation on Monday.

"The Knicks are creating cap space to chase Brunson, and my understanding is they see the Irving/Nets drama as a public negotiation," he wrote. "Irving would have to wait for the Knicks to miss out on all of their top point guard targets before sitting down with them."

The report that Irving would have had to wait for the Knicks to finish their Brunson pursuit for any more to happen suggests the Dallas Mavericks guard is priority Nos. 1-10 right now in New York's offseason plans.

After all, this is a team that hired Brunson's dad, Rick, to an assistant coach role earlier in the offseason. That could help sweeten the deal from the Knicks' perspective.

New York set the wheels in motion on a potential Brunson signing during the 2022 NBA draft, when it used a few trades to maneuver its way out of some salary-cap space.

Ditching Kemba Walker's cap hit was the biggest move that could trigger Brunson's move to New York. It also opens up a guard position on the roster.

Walker did not play much in the second half of the 2021-22 NBA season, so it made sense for the Knicks to move on from him anyway.

Bobby Marks of ESPN outlined that the Knicks now have $104 million in guaranteed salary for the upcoming season, and the salary cap is expected to sit at $122 million. The Walker trade to the Detroit Pistons and another move could open up a world of cap space to land Brunson on a major deal.

The next move could be to release Taj Gibson, who has a non-guaranteed $5.2 million salary for the 2022-23 season. Then the Knicks could trade Cam Reddish or another depth player to open up even more space to secure Brunson at any price.

New York needs a player of the Dallas star's caliber to complement RJ Barrett and Julius Randle in its efforts to qualify for the postseason in the Eastern Conference.

The Knicks did so two seasons ago, but they failed to follow that up with a strong campaign last season and missed out on the play-in round entirely.

Randle and Barrett both averaged over 20 points per game, but the former's points-per-game total dropped four whole points. That can't happen for the leading scorer on a team with playoff aspirations.

New York needs a third consistent scorer to ease some of the pressure off the two current stars, and it needs someone to run the point at an elite level. Brunson did both of those things for the Mavericks while Luka Doncic was dealing with injuries in the postseason.

Brunson averaged career highs of 16.3 points and 4.8 assists per game in the regular season on a team with the 23-year-old, who is one of the NBA's most prolific scorers and passers. Brunson increased that production to 21.6 points in the postseason.

Brunson's spectacular postseason run increased his price on the free-agent market, but the Knicks should still be willing to pay whatever the market cost is for the guard because he could represent a perfect fit for its current stars.

Dallas will have something to say in the fight for Brunson's signature, but it can only go so high in the negotiations before the number becomes a bit expensive for the front office.

According to Spotrac, the Mavericks have four players scheduled to make over $15 million next season. That list does not include Christian Wood, who is in line to make $14.3 million. He was acquired in the offseason's first major trade with the Houston Rockets.

Dallas could still use Brunson's services to challenge in the Western Conference, but his final contract number may end up being too high to fit in alongside Doncic, Wood, Spencer Dinwiddie, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Davis Bertans.

New York sits in a decent position to sign Brunson, and it may feel more confident to land him if more salary is dumped in the coming days.

The Knicks appear to be in a two-horse race for the Villanova product, and they could be the favorite to land him if he becomes too expensive for the Mavericks.