02-21-2024, 08:28 PM
(02-21-2024, 07:24 PM)KillerLeft Wrote: Nah, man. That doesn’t make any sense to me at all. It makes much less sense for Brunson, the guy who bet on himself, won, and is now in a way better position than he ever would have been in Dallas, to “craft” anything for Dallas fans/media. More likely that he doesn’t even think about it until he is asked.
Cuban, on the other hand, has been known to “craft” narratives for the reasons you mention, and stick to them for years after it’s obvious to everyone he got owned. Happened with Nash, drafting Giannis, etc. Hell, he might still be trying to pretend Tyson Chandler left Dallas for New York, as if the one-year offer he made was legitimate.
If, at this point, you are still arguing that the Mavericks did not drop the ball on the Brunson situation, you’re just not wanting to see it. The reality is that they drafted him, they didn’t believe in him, they let him get away, and now, New York is literally a better team than the Mavericks. Not by much, and maybe not for long, but they were nowhere close to the Mavericks the summer before he left.
Winner: Brunson. Loser: Mavericks. Everything else is just a semantic, pointless debate.
Brunson did bet on himself. But this spin on the video of him saying he didn't is a lie. Also what better situation did Brunson put himself in? Winning? He went to the conference finals in Dallas with Luka. Let me know when that happens as a Knick.
Look, Iam not a Cuban Homer and believe critism of him is definitely deserved and warranted (esp. In cases of undervaluing the draft). But in this situation I think Cuban is less to blame due to too many conflating factors.
Moreover, I don't know if the Mavs didn't believe in Brunson or more they didnt believe in the Brunson Luka pairing. Seeing the effect of having defenders surrounding Dirk likely had a profound impact on Cuban. When it comes to winning chamionships having one mediocre to non defender on the court is difficult enough than having two.
If Kyrie was younger to match Lukas timeline, I doubt anyone on this board would have a problem upgrading to Kyrie.