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

[Halfnir]

To me, there's 3 dimensions of the Brunson story: 

Asset management: Draft a good player on a low pick, develop him over 4 years, then loose him for nothing without any way to replace him. TERRIBLE

Player valuation: ignoring other factors, avoiding to pay Brunson way over 20m annually is correct in my opinion. He's a good offensive player, with some question marks on the defensive end and playmaking abilities. I don't see him at max or near max value. Knicks are overpaying and i think it will hurt them (and Jalen) in the long run. 

Basketball: Brunson next to Luka was always a non-ideal combination. Kudos to them to make it work nicely on the offensive side, but not really playing together, but rather taking turns doing their thing. On the defensive side, both had problems. The ideal player next to Luka is a larger guard with good defense, passing and creation abilities and a solid 3pt shoot.

So overall a really bad handling of the situation, but there might be a silver lining about it, IF (big IF) they manage to find a better fit next to Luka, even if it has to wait another year or two. 
If Jalen can grow into the full-time lead guard role in New York, will be seen. I have doubts, i think he undervalues the fact that he was not the main focus of opposing coaches's game plans. Wish him the best though, always liked his game.