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

[omahen]

that they can only sign him on Bird rights to a very low (compared to his market value) number.

Right now they can offer him extension in the range of roughly 55 mil for 4 years. In the summer they can offer him whatever number they want, but he is unrestricted. If he gets traded, same apply to the new team.

[Scott41theMavs]

Right now they can offer him extension in the range of roughly 55 mil for 4 years. In the summer they can offer him whatever number they want, but he is unrestricted. If he gets traded, same apply to the new team.

I understand the extension vs. next summer. But the Mavs are capped. I thought there was a rather small number that the Mavs had in Bird rights on Brunson. I'm going to worry a lot less if we can legit pay him $18-20 mil per.

[mavsluvr]

I understand the extension vs. next summer. But the Mavs are capped. I thought there was a rather small number that the Mavs had in Bird rights on Brunson. I'm going to worry a lot less if we can legit pay him $18-20 mil per.

My understanding is that the Mavs have full Bird rights on Brunson. So, once he becomes a free agent, their only limit is the max salary that a guy with his years of experience can earn. (Not suggesting he will come close to getting that.)

[omahen]

My understanding is that the Mavs have full Bird rights on Brunson. So, once he becomes a free agent, their only limit is the max salary that a guy with his years of experience can earn. (Not suggesting he will come close to getting that.)

Exactly. Bird rights allow you to go over the cap.

[ItsGoTime]

Exactly. Bird rights allow you to go over the cap.

I thought we were in the same position with him as Sac was with Holmes last offseason where we can’t pay him over a certain amount? I guess I misread somewhere.

[Scott41theMavs]

I thought we were in the same position with him as Sac was with Holmes last offseason where we can’t pay him over a certain amount? I guess I misread somewhere.

Yeah, that was my thought as well. Daaaaaaaaan!

[Arioch]

I thought we were in the same position with him as Sac was with Holmes last offseason where we can’t pay him over a certain amount? I guess I misread somewhere.

Holmes originally signed as a free agent with Sacramento for two years. So they didn't have full Bird rights last summer whereas Dallas will have full Bird rights with Brunson. The Holmes situation is more equivalent to Dallas and Frankie assuming we want to keep him after his current contract is up.

[Hypermav]

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/nba...r-ratings/

I was shocked but then not really.

[mavsluvr]

I thought we were in the same position with him as Sac was with Holmes last offseason where we can’t pay him over a certain amount? I guess I misread somewhere.

My understanding is that there is a limit on what they can offer in an extension. But that doesn't apply to re-signing him as a free agent.

[Kammrath]

I was shocked but then not really.

Yep. It probably won't continue but Brunson 6th in the NBA and Luka 173rd in the NBA is about right based on what we have seen in 10 games.

[ReunionMav]

So if I read this correctly we can attempt to win the free agent competition for Brunson at any price but with no real rules based advantage over other teams. So that tells me this year is about how much we like him and are therefore willing to offer him. Then he gets to decide who he chooses. 

I hope it turns out that everyone can see that he is best playing with Luka so Dallas can choose him and Jalen feels best choosing us back. 

Luka Doncic as the chief recruiter anyone.

[ReunionMav]

Another thought. Much of our playoff concern is based on Brunson versus the wildly long and bad match up Clippers. So avoid the Clippers!!!

Furthermore we need to develop more guys playing off the hard driving scorer version of Brunson to make him a great creator as well. His drive to improve should make that possible. Perhaps a 2nd pick and roll partner for Brunson could be developed.

[sefant]

Yep. It probably won't continue but Brunson 6th in the NBA and Luka 173rd in the NBA is about right based on what we have seen in 10 games.

Kleber is 4th behind Jokic, if you reduce the requirement to 100 min+ by the way.

[mavsluvr]

Brunson has made a leap, and his flashy style is quite entertaining. 

Having said that, if it were me, I wouldn't sink big money into Brunson, without seeing much more indication that he can perform under playoff-like conditions. 

Love what he is doing to help Luka, but against good teams, he is a pretty severe defensive liability, and is too easy to shut down on the offensive end. I could see him helping a contender in the playoffs in a backup capacity, with the right matchup. Actually, a rebuilding team that isn't worried about performance in the playoffs might be an ideal place, from both a team and player point of view, for JB to end up.

[omahen]

Brunson has made a leap, and his flashy style is quite entertaining. 

Having said that, if it were me, I wouldn't sink big money into Brunson, without seeing much more indication that he can perform under playoff-like conditions. 

Totally agree. He will for sure be targeted on defense in the playoffs as he was last season and defenses will be much more prepared for him. Playoff basketball is totally different than regular season and I think regular season data has to be very carefully taken into account. I hope he will succeed with these challenges but I don't believe it until I see it.  

The problem I have is - if Brunson fails to impress in playoffs, Mavs will get nothing for him as they will likely not be prepared to pay serious money and he might look to go somewhere else. I think Mavs need to make a decision before that as they can't afford the option to lose one of those rare assets they have. Either trade him or commit to him big time. Looking from risk management perspective, I think it would be more sound to trade him before summer. 

[Chicagojk]

You could make the argument that Jalen's current role is the perfect role for him.   In most games he is getting close to 30 minutes, has the ball a lot, has the coaches trust and is finishing games.   

He gets to play with Luka for stretches but also run the bench squad when Luka sits.   

Like most players, he probably wants "his team", but is that really going to happen?   Would he find a better situation then the one he is in now?   He may not be a starter at the beginning of the game but he does finish them.   Starting does mean  a lot for most players, but I think finishing games is the bigger deal.

[mvossman]

I thought we were in the same position with him as Sac was with Holmes last offseason where we can’t pay him over a certain amount? I guess I misread somewhere.

As others pointed out, we did not make that mistake (if we signed to a standard 2 year 2nd round rookie deal, we would have that issue).  The mistake we made was making his 4th season non guaranteed.  That meant that we could not make him restricted last year.  Imagine if we could have signed him as a restricted free agent last offseason.  Probably could have gotten him for something like Maxi's contract (unless the Nicks make a really big offer).  Instead, we are going to compete with rest of NBA and talking numbers like 15+.  The good news is there are not a lot of teams with cap space and a need for a starting point guard.  Unless he continues supernova path we may not have to go too much over the MLE (unless he just not want to stay).

[mavsluvr]

You could make the argument that Jalen's current role is the perfect role for him.   In most games he is getting close to 30 minutes, has the ball a lot, has the coaches trust and is finishing games.   

He gets to play with Luka for stretches but also run the bench squad when Luka sits.   

Like most players, he probably wants "his team", but is that really going to happen?   Would he find a better situation then the one he is in now?   He may not be a starter at the beginning of the game but he does finish them.   Starting does mean  a lot for most players, but I think finishing games is the bigger deal.

Good points. 

I will throw out a simplified decision map for the FO. Corrections/additional thoughts are welcome. 

1. Do we want to try to re-sign JB in the offseason on a sporting basis in a role he might find attractive? Do we think we have a reasonable chance of re-signing him at a price we are willing to pay?

If the answer to either of these questions is no, then, go to Trade Option. If the answer to both questions is yes, then go to Question Two.

2. Will we replace his playmaking skills during the season? If he is traded in-season, will he bring in a reasonably meaningful asset in return? 

If the answer to either of these questions is no, then go to Keep Option. If the answer to Both questions is yes, then go to Trade Option.

Trade Option. Make him available for a decent trade at whatever point we no longer desperately need him. But if this means dumping him for a bag of peanuts, or giving up valuable assets just to get rid of him, pass. I am imagining that, because of his contract and CBA considerations, he might not bring much more than maybe a Trey Burke type-player. At best, maybe a younger guy who is somewhat of a reclamation project.

Keep Option. Continue to use him in his best sporting role, and if warranted, make his role as attractive as makes sense from a performance perspective. Use the playoffs to evaluate whether he is really able to be productive at a high level of play in a role that he is enthusiastic about. Make summer signing decision accordingly. Either keep him, or if we can't/won't at the price involved, then see if we can find a S-n-T, or wish him well as he walks for nothing (on the premise that we would have gotten the equivalent of nothing if we had traded him, anyway)

But --

Likely Option?. Go to Mark Cuban MO. Do not bother with all of the above rigamarole. Go straight to Keep Option.

[Scott41theMavs]

Good points. 

I will throw out a simplified decision map for the FO. Corrections/additional thoughts are welcome. 

1. Do we want to try to re-sign JB in the offseason on a sporting basis in a role he might find attractive? Do we think we have a reasonable chance of re-signing him at a price we are willing to pay?

If the answer to either of these questions is no, then, go to Trade Option. If the answer to both questions is yes, then go to Question Two.

2. Will we replace his playmaking skills during the season? If he is traded in-season, will he bring in a reasonably meaningful asset in return? 

If the answer to either of these questions is no, then go to Keep Option. If the answer to Both questions is yes, then go to Trade Option.

Trade Option. Make him available for a decent trade at whatever point we no longer desperately need him. But if this means dumping him for a bag of peanuts, or giving up valuable assets just to get rid of him, pass. I am imagining that, because of his contract and CBA considerations, he might not bring much more than maybe a Trey Burke type-player. At best, maybe a younger guy who is somewhat of a reclamation project.

Keep Option. Continue to use him in his best sporting role, and if warranted, make his role as attractive as makes sense from a performance perspective. Use the playoffs to evaluate whether he is really able to be productive at a high level of play in a role that he is enthusiastic about. Make summer signing decision accordingly. Either keep him, or if we can't/won't at the price involved, then see if we can find a S-n-T, or wish him well as he walks for nothing (on the premise that we would have gotten the equivalent of nothing if we had traded him, anyway)

But --

Likely Option?. Go to Mark Cuban MO. Do not bother with all of the above rigamarole. Go straight to Keep Option.

If he can be packaged with KP for a playmaker and one or two other rotation-level players, I would do that.

[mavsluvr]

If he can be packaged with KP for a playmaker and one or two other rotation-level players, I would do that.

Agree that a blockbuster trade would open up more options. 

Sounds like you might be in the group that thinks that KP has a positive trade value, or at least will get to that point before the deadline if he keeps playing like he did in the last game.