The New York Knicks made their first major deal of the season last week with the trade for Cam Reddish, but apparently that wasn’t all. As the New York Post reported, the team from the Big Apple also wants to sign a guard from the Dallas Mavericks.
Accordingly, the Knicks have long been interested in Jalen Brunson. His father, Rick Brunson, also once played for New York and was an assistant coach to Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau for a number of years, so there are some connections.
According to the report, the Knicks had asked Dallas several times about Brunson. “They really want him,” it continues.
The 25-year-old, meanwhile, is in the midst of his best season in Dallas and was recently promoted to starter alongside Luka Doncic by head coach Jason Kidd. Brunson currently has 16 points and almost 6 assists on average, with the Brunson-Doncic backcourt the Mavs have won seven of nine games this season.
Jalen Brunson: That’s why he hasn’t renewed yet
Actually, Brunson would have already earned an early contract extension – there is only the following complication: The former second-round pick is in the last year of a minimum contract, so Dallas can currently only offer him 120 percent of an average NBA salary – around $ 56 million over four years .
Brunson can arguably earn more in the open market. So it makes sense for the guard to wait until the summer and become an unrestricted free agent. Then Dallas could potentially make him a better offer.
A trade is loud NBC Sports only realistic if the Mavs don’t want to pay Brunson in line with the market. Marc Stein reported a few weeks ago that Dallas, on the contrary, was confident of being able to work with Brunson in the long term.
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