Today, 10:06 AM
(Today, 09:30 AM)michaeltex Wrote: I agree with your point and will add that, at the TDL that season there was a lot of talk about whether Brunson, an SRP, was worth extending or should DAL just go ahead and trade him for whatever they could get. Once he got some recognition of being a pretty good PG in the post season, coupled with tampering and other shenanigans by NYKs and Daddy Brunson, he was a lost cause.
I still don't understand why DAL didn't give him a rookie contract with enough years to claim RFA status. If that was Donnie's negotiating, then bad on him. But if Brunson agreed, then I've suspected he had a sneaky plan to migrate to NY at the first opportunity anyway.
Actually if he had gotten the normal RFA contract he would have been eligible for it a year earlier (the WCF season). Considering they were not willing to offer him an extension, I'm not sure what they would have done if he signs an 18 mil offer sheet with NY. They probably let him go and get a couple seconds back (similar to the Delon Wright trade only reversed). The reality is all they had to do was offer him the max extension after his third year.
As for fit with Luka, they obviously worked well together, but Brunson was never going to reach his current peak on this team. A competent FO probably extends him and eventually trades him for a massive asset haul.