06-25-2022, 11:43 AM
(06-25-2022, 10:50 AM)loki Wrote: I don't believe their hesitation was about the money. They also waited to extend DFS until after the trade deadline and he didn't have nearly the leap that JB did. I believe they knew Brunson was worth the max extension well ahead of time.
They waited because they were shopping them both as trade bait. This never made sense to me because they would not have accepted any trade that returned lesser players or draft picks (apparently a lotto pick was offered for Dorian and NY offered the 23 Dallas 1st for JB). The only deal they would have taken would have been for a clear cut upgrade. Who would have given a player of that caliber for an expiring DFS or Brunson? No one I can think of.
So instead of taking the sure thing, Cuban gambled for a trade that was never going to happen and got burned. Now we pray he doesn't make the situation worse by letting NY outbid him.
I think - and I could be misremembering here - that the Mavs didn't extend JB because the max extension they could offer was less than what he would get on the open market.
Am I remembering that right or am I forgetting something?