Mark Cuban and Jalen Brunson Discuss What Went Down in 2022 FA

[SleepingHero]

Timestamp 45:27. Jalen's 2022 FA topic lasts about 8 minutes.

This was awkward as hell. I'm shocked both agreed to talk about it publicly. I REALLY hate this topic. It reminds me so much of the Steve Nash debacle and I hate bringing it up, but there are a lot of interesting moments here. 

First, JB the entire time keeps saying "my agent tells me Dallas hasn't replied". He also mentioned as soon as his dad got hired by the Knicks he'd regret it for the rest of his life if he didn't "give the Knicks a chance" at a meeting. Which stood out to me. 

Mark is saying the opposite, that they consistently kept trying to pull a number from the agent so that they could match but JB's agent refused to tell him anything. So much so that Mark said "we don't want to come to NYK for no reason, if you're willing to hear us out we'll come." Which stood out to me.

When you factor in that JB's agent is Sam Rose, the son of the Knicks GM and PBO Leon Rose, things get very interesting.   


Essentially Mark and Nico basically felt that JB had already made up his mind LONG ago before the Mavs even had a chance. There wasn't much new in this conversation, but it truthfully feels like to me that JB had his mind set on New York as soon as he had a chance. Feels like JB wanted to leave for NYK but didn't want to be made out as the bad guy.  The fact the Knicks got investigated for tampering and were fined in this ordeal kind of seals that fact.

Does this clear the Mavs Front Office for their sin of letting him go for free? No. Not at all. Brunson should've never hit unrestricted free agency and Donnie Nelson's oversight of JB's contract structure was malpractice. Further, I don't think JB's supposed interest in the Knicks was a secret. The Mavs should've traded Brunson (which I believe they tried) for whatever they could've gotten at that TDL.

[Jym]

I still don't get why our initial offer was substantially less a year than the Knicks had opened up. That never made any sense to me. We knew why they opened up that capspace and that should have been our floor for an offer

[SleepingHero]

I still don't get why our initial offer was substantially less a year than the Knicks had opened up. That never made any sense to me. We knew why they opened up that capspace and that should have been our floor for an offer

If we're to believe Cuban, and there is more evidence now given that JB himself said his agent said Dallas is radio silent, then the Mavs had no idea what the Knicks had offered and didn't even give a chance to counter offer. 


Funnily enough, McMahon said as much last year after the Mavs were on their way to missing the playoffs (funny how he chose that time to drop that story) https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/3608...en-brunson

What Cuban said then: 

We didn't know what the bid was," Cuban said, speaking to the media a day after Doncic said the Mavs missed Brunson "a lot" and bemoaned the decline of Dallas' chemistry this season. "They never gave us a number. Knowing the numbers now, I would've paid it in a heartbeat, but he wouldn't have come anyway. There's just no possible way that it was about money.

"I mean, there was no negotiation. They didn't give us a number. I mean, you would think that when you're the incumbent team and you can match anything, that's the way it works. Right? You have a relationship with the agent and they want to at least give you a chance because you helped develop the player. You had him for four years. OK, let's work together."


Its pretty much what Cuban reiterated here and JB all but confirmed it by saying all communication was through his agent (the literal son of the GM of the Knicks) AND his dad. 

This pretty much confirms to me that as soon as NYK became a viable place, JB was never returning. He burned the Mavs and did so in a roundabout manner. Screw him. The biggest misstep from the Mavs FO was not signing him to that 4/55 deal, despite his terrible playoff performance. Of course hindsight is 20/20. As soon as they saw JB's dad get hired they should've shipped him off to NYK or whatever team for a FRP.

[mvossman]

Timestamp 45:27. Jalen's 2022 FA topic lasts about 8 minutes.

This was awkward as hell. I'm shocked both agreed to talk about it publicly. I REALLY hate this topic. It reminds me so much of the Steve Nash debacle and I hate bringing it up, but there are a lot of interesting moments here. 

First, JB the entire time keeps saying "my agent tells me Dallas hasn't replied". He also mentioned as soon as his dad got hired by the Knicks he'd regret it for the rest of his life if he didn't "give the Knicks a chance" at a meeting. Which stood out to me. 

Mark is saying the opposite, that they consistently kept trying to pull a number from the agent so that they could match but JB's agent refused to tell him anything. So much so that Mark said "we don't want to come to NYK for no reason, if you're willing to hear us out we'll come." Which stood out to me.

When you factor in that JB's agent is Sam Rose, the son of the Knicks GM and PBO Leon Rose, things get very interesting.   


Essentially Mark and Nico basically felt that JB had already made up his mind LONG ago before the Mavs even had a chance. There wasn't much new in this conversation, but it truthfully feels like to me that JB had his mind set on New York as soon as he had a chance. Feels like JB wanted to leave for NYK but didn't want to be made out as the bad guy.  The fact the Knicks got investigated for tampering and were fined in this ordeal kind of seals that fact.

Does this clear the Mavs Front Office for their sin of letting him go for free? No. Not at all. Brunson should've never hit unrestricted free agency and Donnie Nelson's oversight of JB's contract structure was malpractice. Further, I don't think JB's supposed interest in the Knicks was a secret. The Mavs should've traded Brunson (which I believe they tried) for whatever they could've gotten at that TDL.

I don't think the issue was the contract he was on.  The issue was not offering a full extension the prior summer (Nico first offseason).  

The alternative contract makes him a restricted free agent that summer.  What happens then?  If the Nicks (who were already reported to want him) come in with a 15 mil offer sheet is Dallas going to match?  Will they work out some trade where they get a couple of seconds back?  If NY doesn't offer, do the Mavs lowball Brunson?  Brunson could have choosen to play on the qualifying offer and then hit free agency which is effectively how it played out.  There is no guarantee that Brunson stays just because he is restricted, especially given that the Mavs were not fully committed and he was potentially already interested in NY.

[Chicagojk]

I am pretty tired of the story. Let it live in the past. I blame mostly the Mavs for the mistake. They were slow to realize what they had in Jalen and then thought they were in a much stronger position as free agency approached. They were slow to react and when quick decisions had to be showed, they seemed to be stuck asking for what were the offers NY was giving...rather than being proactive. Sometimes you really need to show the love.

But the Mavs somehow have been able to correct things and are probably in a better position now. So major props. I really thought losing Jalen was going to be the first step to losing Luka eventually. So far, that appears to be way off.

[mvossman]

I am pretty tired of the story.  Let it live in the past.  I blame mostly the Mavs for the mistake.  They were slow to realize what they had in Jalen and then thought they were in a much stronger position as free agency approached.  They were slow to react and when quick decisions had to be showed, they seemed to be stuck asking for what were the offers NY was giving...rather than being proactive.  Sometimes you really need to show the love.

But the Mavs somehow have been able to correct things and are probably in a better position now.  So major props.  I really thought losing Jalen was going to be the first step to losing Luka eventually.  So far, that appears to be way off.

I think by then it was too late.  Brunson was dead set on going to NY and Cuban was choking on the tax cost.  We effectively lost him in the prior offseason.  Agreed that I thought we were toast after that.  The turnaround has been stunning (helps to have a top 3 player).

[speedkilz88]

Cuban is clearly not someone you want involved in player negotiations.

[KillerLeft]

If we're to believe Cuban

I do not. 

I agree the agent (and all of CAA) had a conflict of interest on this one, specifically, but there's also a long track record of Cuban rewriting history in situations like this. As a consequence, my default is to assume that he's bending the truth enough to satiate Mavs fans' blood lust. 

So glad his era is over.

[KillerLeft]

 The turnaround has been stunning (helps to have a top 3 player).

The turnaround has been good, yes, but at great cost, both in assets and a couple of seasons lost. Now, they're back where they were going into that summer with less on hand to take the final roster-building steps. 

We should never stop talking about this, imho. This was the kind of mistake that cripples franchises. I'm also up for talking about the Nash thing and breaking up the title team anytime anyone wants. These topics should never, ever die. I hope the list of major blunders finds its way into Cuban's obituary, frankly.

[mvossman]

I do not. 

I agree the agent (and all of CAA) had a conflict of interest on this one, specifically, but there's also a long history of Cuban rewriting history in situations like this. As a consequence, my default is to assume that he's bending the truth enough to satiate Mavs fans' blood lust. 

So glad his era is over.

I was surprised he copped to the Giannis fiasco.

[Jym]

I do not. 

I agree the agent (and all of CAA) had a conflict of interest on this one, specifically, but there's also a long history of Cuban rewriting history in situations like this. As a consequence, my default is to assume that he's bending the truth enough to satiate Mavs fans' blood lust. 

So glad his era is over.

I did find it interesting that Mark confirmed that the Mavs were the ones who canceled the in-person meeting 
people here had been saying again and again that it was Brunson's camp who did that and used that against him

[michaeltex]

I think by then it was too late.  Brunson was dead set on going to NY and Cuban was choking on the tax cost.  We effectively lost him in the prior offseason.  Agreed that I thought we were toast after that.  The turnaround has been stunning (helps to have a top 3 player).

I agree. Though the sentiment on this board that offseason was that Jalen wasn't worth the investment. DAL messed this up when they wrote the initial contract with JB that didn't allow for RFA status. But he was a 2nd round pick that didn't necessarily project to be an NBA star, so maybe they didn't want a contract burden if he didn't work out.

I also think the Jalen grew tired of living in Luka's shadow. We all saw JB shine against UTA when Luka was hurt in the last pre-season game, but play a smaller role through the rest of the WCF run against PHX and GSW. He, Brunson, wanted to be the lead dog on his own team and his dad and the Rose family carved a path.

Personally, I'm happy he's in a good situation, as a high talent player, he deserves it. I do wish we could have done a SnT with NYKs, but his reps were all about making it a win-lose situation.

[mvossman]

I agree. Though the sentiment on this board that offseason was that Jalen wasn't worth the investment. DAL messed this up when they wrote the initial contract with JB that didn't allow for RFA status. But he was a 2nd round pick that didn't necessarily project to be an NBA star, so maybe they didn't want a contract burden if he didn't work out.

I also think the Jalen grew tired of living in Luka's shadow. We all saw JB shine against UTA when Luka was hurt in the last pre-season game, but play a smaller role through the rest of the WCF run against PHX and GSW. He, Brunson, wanted to be the lead dog on his own team and his dad and the Rose family carved a path.

Personally, I'm happy he's in a good situation, as a high talent player, he deserves it. I do wish we could have done a SnT with NYKs, but his reps were all about making it a win-lose situation.

I don't think the sentiment on this board was that he was not worth the investment.  There were a couple that didn't think he was worth it and some that were skeptical, but a lot folks wanted him (max) extended.  

I agree on Brunson long term outlook.  Its hard to see him wanting to be here long term when he clearly can run a team himself.  The difference is if we extend him the previous summer he becomes a massive asset instead of someone who just walks away.

[KillerLeft]

The difference is if we extend him the previous summer he becomes a massive asset instead of someone who just walks away.

That's the worst part. At the number he signed for in NY, and even on the extension he just signed, Brunson is one of the best trade assets in the entire league, although I doubt they (NY) would even consider trading him. Not only was he not overpaid on that contract, he would probably have been a bargain if the Mavs had elected to max him out in an effort to keep him here (buried in all of this revisionist Cuban history is the fact that no such offer was made). After what Brunson had just done to the Utah Jazz in the playoffs (without Luka), it's flabbergasting that the Mavs didn't make a max offer the literal second they were allowed.

[F Gump]

Brunson made the subtle inference that Cuban crowed about having the ability to outbid anyone - but then when it came time to put up or shut up, he wouldn't even make an offer. Then and now, it's Cuban doing the totally wrong things, and then looking for excuses.

As they talk here, watch Cuban's facial expressions, his shifty eyes, and his body language through this conversation. In them, you get the cringy admissions that Cuban BADLY botched this negotiation and knows it, but he wants to find half-truths to maintain the stance that he did everything "right" and it just wasn't his fault somehow. It was Jalen, it was Jalen's dad, it wasn't being given a chance, it was all sorts of nonsense.

Except it wasn't that at all. There was a deal available. He just was too stupid to know how to make it.

He's always held himself out as a great salesman, but he's not. He's a bad negotiator. He just doesn't know how to play the game. He should have fired himself after the Nash fiasco, but his ego wouldn't let him hire someone with skills to be the GM. I'm still disappointed how he let his ego waste the last decade of Dirk's career. What if.

[loki]

Brunson to NYK was probably locked in on July 18, 2018. Whether the Mavs offered him that contract or (my guess) the Brunson camp negotiated for it, I think he wanted to be a UFA as soon as possible for that purpose.

[Ghost of Podkolzin]

The history of pro sports free agency is filled with like stories. As a fan, I will always blame the front offices. How many opportunities did the Mavs waste to resign JB before he became an UFA? As with Nash, Cuban decided to play coupon clipper making sure the Mavs didn't overpay. I think Finley's decline scared Cuban with Nash, just like the THJ signing with JB. Cuban's reign over the Mavs can be summed up in one word: REACTIVE.

[DanSchwartzgan]

Today's version of the new DLLS podcast deals with this interview in some depth.  

The lineup for DLLS is pretty good...Karalla, Stein, Cato and Kevin Gray.

[SleepingHero]

Today's version of the new DLLS podcast deals with this interview in some depth.  

The lineup for DLLS is pretty good...Karalla, Stein, Cato and Kevin Gray.

Im going to try and find snippets of it online to post here.

[DanSchwartzgan]

Im going to try and find snippets of it online to post here.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/54KWAg7...rJ5Qb2DFUg