BRUNSON BURNER: to NYK for 4yrs/$104M (no SnT) | NYK docked 2025 2nd for tampering

[haveitall]

The Athletic's Tim Cato works hard to pour cold water on the Mavs. In his most recent article he writes that Brunson isn't really getting better, he's just getting more minutes. To make his case, he points out Brunson's per 48 stats are similar to last year and his efficiency is slightly down. 

Piling on, he says Brunson is just getting more minutes because the Mavs are forced to play him. Cato loves to dog the Mavs roster: "Brunson hasn't necessarily improved as much as he's earned more minutes and trust, which is both warranted by his play and out of necessity due to this roster."

If Brunson starts Cato thinks Kidd will have to bench THJ because Brunson and Luka also poor defenders. "it's difficult to justify those two and THJ playing together and maintaining any semblance of a high level defense."

I wonder, how much of a defensive liability is Brunson? 

"The thing about Brunson is he's really come a long way," Carlisle said. "It didn't just happen for him. He had to make a lot of adjustments. He's worked to change his body, his game and to adapt to the NBA 3-point line. Now he's an effective scorer at all three levels, and he was very much a mid-range player when he came. He's learned a lot about defense, and the work that he's done with the strength, body development and quickness has helped make him a very solid defender."

I don't know what his PER is compared to last year but he's taken a big leap this year.  His defense is better though not great. The shots that he has made are much harder against better defenders as he gets more attention.  His rebounding is better.  His passing is better.  The only downside is that he still has really bad shooting nights sometimes.