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

[sterlingmallory]

I don’t view this argument as shaky at all. But it seems to overlook that the Mavs could’ve signed him (possibly) in that same price range and then traded him down the road for something of similar value with better fit.

This is what the FO should have done. Just look at how Phoenix matched Ayton's offer sheet this summer despite Ayton being miserable there and getting into it with the coach. Even still, they are smart enough to know you can't just lose an asset for nothing in this league. They'll probably trade him as soon as he's eligible and get a nice return.

This was my biggest issue with the Brunson situation. Terrible, terrible asset management. The contract isn't even that bad, he got less than what Herro and Jordan Poole got. If you don't think he's a long term piece then re-sign him and trade him later. But no, we just let him go. And obviously, with the way the salary cap works in the NBA, once he's gone, he's gone. We're still over the cap so the only way to replace him is with the MLE (which we saw is only enough to get a Javale McGee level player) or trade.

The way they handled that really shook my confidence in the new Mavs FO.