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The Brooklyn Nets are in the middle of their latest rebuild as they are looking to find their next superstar or two in the upcoming NBA Drafts. The hope is that Brooklyn can find a player that they can develop in-house, but there is one player that could have been with the franchise if certain events went differently.
ESPN’s Tim MacMahon recently went on the “Knicks Film School Podcast” with Jonathan Macri to discuss various topics related to the New York Knicks after everything that has happened this summer. One of the talking points that came up was whether the Nets could have gotten Knicks star Jalen Brunson in a trade for Kyrie Irving during the 2022-23 season with the Dallas Mavericks.
“The funny thing is, if Brunson signs that extension with Dallas, I think there is a high likelihood that he would be with the Brooklyn Nets right now,” MacMahon said. MacMahon is giving his opinion here, but it is interesting to hear these comments from him given that the Mavericks are part of his coverage for ESPN so it’s possible that there could be some chatter behind what he’s saying.
“Mark Cuban has always been about chasing stars,” MacMahon explained. But, I think there’s a decent chance that Jalen Brunson would have been moved to Brooklyn with Kyrie Irving still ending up in Dallas.” During the 2022-23 campaign, the Nets traded Irving to the Mavericks after the two sides were unable to come to terms on a contract extension and Brooklyn received Spencer Dinwiddie and Dorian Finney-Smith along with draft picks.
To add to this revisited moment, the Mavericks had the chance to offer Brunson a four-year, $55 million deal prior to when he broke out with the Mavericks during the 2021-22 season. As Brunson explained on the “All The Smoke” podcast with former NBA players Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes, Dallas wanted to wait to give Brunson the extension and after that, it seemed that Brunson wanted to go elsewhere which is how he ended up signing with New York in free-agency the following summer.
Tim MacMahon goes on to say: “Mark Cuban has always been about chasing stars… but I think there’s a decent chance that Jalen Brunson would have been moved to Brooklyn with Kyrie Irving still ending up in Dallas… Brunson obviously landed in a much better situation.” https://t.co/qMYYHdbXEw
— Sharif Phillips-Keaton (@SharifKeaton) August 16, 2024