New Jalen Brunson Trade Rumors Emerge from Mavs Tenure After Report of 'Laughable' Contract Offer

Before star point guard Jalen Brunson joined the New York Knicks, his tenure with the Dallas Mavericks reportedly could have ended with a trade.

ESPN's Ramona Shelburne detailed the timeline that led Brunson to sign with the Knicks during the 2022 offseason, revealing that the Mavs had considered trading him before eventually losing him in free agency for nothing.

"Questions about his long-term fit with [Luka] Doncic, who still considers Brunson a close friend, began to emerge," Shelburne stated. "After that, teams began regularly calling Dallas to inquire about Brunson's availability, according to league and Mavericks sources."

Brunson had become eligible for a contract extension in the summer of 2021, but the Mavs "made the decision to hold off until after the trade deadline, in case the Mavericks had the opportunity to trade for a star, as an extension would have prevented Brunson from being eligible to be traded before the deadline," per Shelburne. Brunson reportedly informed the team in January that he was willing to sign an extension, but by the time Dallas offered him a four-year, $55 million extension after the February trade deadline, the point guard's representatives "laughed" at the deal, as NBA insider Marc Stein previously reported.

Brunson hit free agency after a star-making run in the 2022 playoffs that saw the Mavs surprisingly advance to the Western Conference Finals. Shelburne noted that while team owner Mark Cuban said at the time that re-signing him was "a top priority," it had been "clear for weeks" that the Knicks were targeting the floor general.

"The Mavericks still believed they had a chance to retain Brunson because of what he had expressed back in January," Shelburne stated. "What they didn't realize was that it wasn't just more money the Knicks were offering. It was about family."

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The Knicks made a slew of moves to set the table for bringing Brunson into the fold. Leon Rose, who had previously served as Brunson's agent, was hired as New York's team president in 2020. Upon his hiring, his son, Sam, joined Brunson's representation team. Less than a month before Brunson became a free agent, Leon Rose hired his father, Rick Brunson, as an assistant coach under then-head coach Tom Thibodeau.

Brunson was eventually signed to a four-year, $105 million deal that was "widely panned as an overpay" at the time, per Shelburne. Now, Brunson has led the Knicks to their first NBA Finals appearance since 1999, and they are carrying a 2-0 series lead into Monday's Game 3 against the San Antonio Spurs.

"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 Shelburne. "I don't think we fully grasped that."