2022 NBA free agency saw Jalen Brunson depart from the Dallas Mavericks. He ultimately signed with the New York Knicks despite the fact that Dallas was fresh off a Western Conference Finals appearance. So what went wrong in Dallas? Why did Brunson decide to leave? Brunson and Mark Cuban pulled back the curtain on the situation during a recent episode of The Roommates Podcast, via MFFL Nation.
“From my perspective… After we lose Game 5 in the Western Conference Finals, I remember seeing on Twitter Mark did like a postgame interview… Mark was like, ‘who can pay him the most money.' That was the main thing I saw… ‘who can pay him the most money.'”
Cuban then acknowledged that Brunson's comment “is a fact.”
“I saw that,” Brunson continued. “Obviously, you go into free agency, you start seeing all these moves that the Knicks are making. Then obviously my dad going to the Knicks. So I'm like, ‘that's interesting, that's something that is very unique.'”
The meeting
Brunson then explained how he felt the need to at least “explore” that option. The star guard then met with the Knicks and said there was a meeting scheduled with the Mavericks. Brunson then asked if everything he said was true up to that point, but Cuban shared his thoughts on the meeting that was scheduled.
“They wanted us to come to New York,” Cuban said. “We were like, ‘okay, but what are we going to discuss? We need to have some reference on what we're going to be talking about if we come to New York… We want to keep him, we want to keep him, but we're not gonna just show up in New York for you just to say no.' Like I told you, there was a time where it was, okay, what is the number? Give us a feel. Can't talk to JB (Brunson), he's going to a wedding. And that was pretty much the last we heard.”
Brunson then took a moment and continued sharing what happened from his perspective.
“That was, like I said, from my point of view. Once we got the number from the Knicks… I didn't hear anything else from the Mavericks,” Brunson said. “It wasn't from the Mavericks, it was my agent saying to me, ‘oh, like, they're not giving us a number…'”
Cuban then responded by saying the Mavericks were requesting a number from Brunson. However, Cuban felt that once it appeared that Brunson was going to sign with the Knicks, only a maximum contract would bring the guard back to Dallas.
Mark Cuban says there is “no hard feelings” after Brunson's Mavericks departure
Losing Brunson was far from ideal for Dallas. They ended up trading for Kyrie Irving ahead of the 2023 NBA trade deadline, however. The move has worked out, as Irving and Luka Doncic led the Mavs to the 2024 NBA Finals.
“It is what it is, no hard feelings,” Cuban said. “I don't hold grudges or anything, there's no grudge to hold. JB and I have always gotten along. I'm happy for him. It didn't work out the way I thought it would.”
Brunson then made the comment that it must have worked out well since the Mavericks “made the (Finals).”
Cuban then stated that he thought it would work out and Brunson would end up returning to Dallas. But he acknowledged that in the end, Brunson ended up in New York and he's happy to see him playing well with his new team.
The conversation was not over, however.
What Jalen Brunson “didn't like”
Related NewsArticle continues below
Brunson established himself as a star with the Mavs. He ultimately left and signed with the Knicks. There was one thing he did not like about the process before ultimately leaving Dallas.
“The only thing that I didn't like about the whole situation was when Mark said, ‘when the parents got involved, that's when things got messy.' That is the one thing I was like, ‘d**n, that was a little jab.'”
Cuban, however, denied that his comment was a “jab.”
“It wasn't really… it wasn't a jab at all,” Cuban said. “There's no reason for us to talk about any of that stuff, but it wasn't just a jab JB for real.”
“I'm just saying, when I heard that… I felt a little certain way,” Brunson responded. “But I got over it.”
Cuban then apologized and said he did not mean to make Brunson feel a “certain way” about the situation. Brunson and Cuban then agreed that they have moved on from it and they are happy for one another.
