Mavericks to offer five-year contract to Jalen Brunson

Sources said the Mavs are willing to give Brunson a five-year contract — which only Dallas can offer due to owning his Bird rights — that is comparable to the four-year, $85 million deal guard Fred VanVleet signed with the Toronto Raptors in 2020.
Source: Tim MacMahon @ ESPN

What’s the buzz on Twitter?

Mike Prada @MikePradaNBA
Truly CAAn’t believe Jalen Brunson is signing with the Knicks. They must believe he CAAn help them get to the next level. – 6:34 PM

Fred Katz @FredKatz
If Jalen Brunson ends up with the Knicks, it’ll be fascinating to see how he fits into an offense with two top scorers, Barrett and Randle, who are best inside the arc, as well as possibly a rim-diving 5. Brunson is so effective in part bc of his rinkydink moves inside the arc. – 6:26 PM

Tim MacMahon @espn_macmahon
ESPN story on the Knicks emerging as the strong favorites to sign Mavs free agent guard Jalen Brunson: espn.com/nba/story/_/id… – 6:22 PM

Callie Caplan @CallieCaplan
Source: Mavericks expect Jalen Brunson will sign with New York Knicks in free agency dallasnews.com/sports/maveric… – 5:41 PM

Dan Favale @danfavale
jalen brunson is really good and not an egregious overpay.
actual issue is the process by which the knicks get here—and that brunson is someone you prioritize when you already have The Guy, not when you don’t even have someone on your roster to be/grow into The Guy. – 5:40 PM

StatMuse @statmuse
Point guards to average 15+ PPG and 50+ FG% in 2022:
— Jrue Holiday
— Jalen Brunson pic.twitter.com/8mRZnN90lW – 5:38 PM

StatMuse @statmuse
Jalen Brunson took off in the 2022 playoffs:
— 7th in total points
— 2-1 without Luka
— 2nd most OREB by a guard
— Outscored Booker and CP3 combined in a game 7
Time to get paid. pic.twitter.com/IWBrfFjCww – 5:32 PM

Tim Cato @tim_cato
i’ll add to the chorus: the Mavericks have had a belief for at least the past couple weeks, multiple sources tell me, that Jalen Brunson would sign with the Knicks. at this point, it’s seen as a certainty. – 5:22 PM

Trey Kerby @treykerby
If Jalen Brunson called his dad for Father’s Day, it’s gonna cost the Knicks a second round draft pick. – 5:00 PM

Dan Favale @danfavale
as punishment for tampering with jalen brunson before the start of free agency, the knicks will be allowed by the nba to continue their run of aimless self-sabotage, league sources say – 4:55 PM

Ian Begley @IanBegley
From earlier: A few Knicks notes, including NYK’s plans for Jericho Sims’ contract, TOR being among the teams interested in Nerlens Noel & opposing teams under impression NYK will be active beyond Jalen Brunson: sny.tv/articles/knick… – 4:53 PM

Chris Mannix @SIChrisMannix
Part of the Knicks pitch to Jalen Brunson, I’m told, is the opportunity to be a full time point guard. In Dallas, Brunson can play with Luka. But Luka is the de facto point guard. In New York, Brunson would run the show. – 4:47 PM

Tim MacMahon @espn_macmahon
At this point, it’s widely anticipated that Jalen Brunson will go to the Knicks on a four-year deal in excess of $100M. It remains to be seen how New York will clear the rest of the necessary cap space and whether the Mavs can work a sign-and-trade to recoup assets. – 4:44 PM

Sirius XM NBA @SiriusXMNBA
“It really does sound like his number is going north of $25 million a year”
@Jake Fischer tells @EvCoRadio & @Brian Geltzeiler why the #Mavericks have lost confidence since draft night that Jalen Brunson will return to Dallas #NewYorkForever #MFFL pic.twitter.com/MPVV8rCBW4 – 3:03 PM

Kevin Pelton @kpelton
Looked back at the recent history of players who dramatically increased their usage after changing teams in free agency to understand what might happen if Jalen Brunson and Deandre Ayton do so this summer: es.pn/3NsGLL6 (ESPN+) – 1:04 PM

Ian Begley @IanBegley
From earlier: Knicks have optimism about landing Jalen Brunson; multiple teams have degree of interest in acquiring Alec Burks: sny.tv/articles/knick… – 12:32 PM

More on this storyline

Brunson, an unrestricted free agent because the fourth season of his rookie deal was non-guaranteed instead of a team option, declined the Mavs’ offer of a four-year, $55.5 million contract extension after the trade deadline, when Dallas forward Dorian Finney-Smith signed an identical deal. By that point, Brunson was confident that he would make significantly more as a free agent. -via ESPN / June 28, 2022

Brunson had informed the Mavs in January that he was willing to sign the extension if it was offered then, his father Rick Brunson told ESPN during the playoffs. Dallas made the calculated decision to hold off on discussions until after the trade deadline, in case the Mavs had the opportunity to trade for a star, as an extension would have prevented Brunson from being eligible to be traded before the deadline. -via ESPN / June 28, 2022

Starting guard Jalen Brunson hasn’t informed Dallas’ front office about where he plans to sign in what’s become a head-to-head pursuit between the Mavericks and the New York Knicks, a source told The Dallas Morning News on Tuesday. But the source said the Mavericks expect Brunson will choose the Knicks — and their family- and stardom-related perks — when the league allows players and teams to start verbally agreeing to new contracts at 11 p.m. Thursday. -via Dallas Morning News / June 28, 2022