Mavericks governor Mark Cuban has said little about his team in recent months and nothing at all about last summer’s loss of Jalen Brunson in free agency, but with Dallas’ on the brink Cuban sounded off on multiple topics Wednesday night.
He said that Jason Kidd absolutely will continue as coach. He said Mavericks love everything about Kyrie Irving and absolutely want to re-sign him this summer. Cuban also took sole blame for not anticipating Dallas’ defensive slippage and not making personnel moves to stem it.
Above all, Cuban ended his silence about Brunson’s departure and the circumstances that led to his signing a four-year, $104 million contract without a counteroffer from Dallas. Brunson is averaging 24.2 points and 6.2 assists for the 46-33 Knicks.
“I went all this time not saying anything about it, considering the way things have turned out and everybody’s saying ‘Oh, you should have sign him ...’ " Cuban said. “The reality is we didn’t have that chance.”
Mark Cuban tells us that despite what was reported in the past, the Mavs never had an opportunity to sign Jalen Brunson to a 4-year extension last January. Then when the trade deadline approached in early Feb., Brunson’s side made it clear that asking price would be $18-23M.
— Brad Townsend (@townbrad) April 5, 2023
ESPN last year reported that Brunson’s representatives came to the Mavericks in early January of last season and said that Brunson would be willing to sign a four-year, $56 million extension, the maximum amount that he would have been able to get at the time.
Cuban, however, flatly denied that Brunson’s side made that overture.
“That’s a lie,” he said. “That’s an absolute 100% lie.”
Cuban showed The Dallas Morning News text messages between himself and Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison that characterized the discussions between the team and Brunson’s agent, Aaron Mintz of CAA Basketball.
According to a January 25 text exchange between Cuban and Harrison, Mintz by that point was saying was that Brunson in the summer would want an annual package of $18 million to $23 million. Under NBA rules, however, Mavericks were not allowed to say what they would be willing to pay Brunson in free agency.
Then, Cuban said, on February 8, two days before the trade deadline, Brunson’s side demanded to the Mavericks that they trade players to create enough cap space so that Brunson could sign an $18-to-$23 million extension right away. The demand, according to Cuban, was coming from Brunson’s father, Rick, channeled to Mintz.
Cuban showed The News a Jan. 25 text exchange between himself and Harrison, with Harrison saying, “We aren’t going to make a decision based on what Aaron says his dad wants in July.”
Cuban then showed The News the text he sent that day to Mintz: “Just want to let you know you’re not helping yourself at all with this ultimatum on (trade) deadline.”
The day after the trade deadline, the Mavericks gave Dorian Finney-Smith the maximum extension that they could give to him, and that they could have given to Brunson had he been willing at that point to accept: four years and $56 million.
By then, according to Cuban, negotiations with Brunson had turned sideways because it was clear that Rick Brunson was running things. Cuban said that he was instructed to no longer speak to Jalen Brunson about contract matters.
So when Dorian Finney-Smith was given a four-year, $56M deal after the trade deadline, Mavs couldn’t offer Brunson that deal because his side demanded two days before the trade deadline that Mavs clear enough room to pay him $18-23M.
— Brad Townsend (@townbrad) April 5, 2023
When discussing Rick Brunson on Wednesday, Cuban went out of his way not to mention him by name. Cuban showed The News a text from Harrison saying that he believed things had taken a bad turn for the Mavericks due to family involvement.
“Where it went south,” Cuban said Wednesday, “is when the parents took over.”
Cuban emphasized that he harbors no ill feelings toward Jalen Brunson or Mintz.
Soon after the Mavericks and Brunson completed their run to the Western Conference finals, news emerged that the Knicks planned to hire Rick Brunson as an assistant coach. That hiring did not become official until after Jalen Brunson signed with the Knicks.
The NBA later investigated the Knicks and in December announced that the team would have to forfeit its 2025 second-round pick for engaging in free agency discussions with Jalen Brunson before league rules allowed negotiations.
“I’m not throwing JB under the bus,” Cuban said. “I think the world of him. I wish him nothing but the best, but the way it was handled, there’s a reason why the NBA (took away) their second-round draft pick. It should have been a whole lot more; it doesn’t help us at all. And the NBA didn’t even talk to me about it, at all.”
Still, on the night the Mavericks were eliminated in the Western Conference finals by Golden State in San Francisco, Cuban expressed confidence that the Mavericks would be able to keep Brunson because “we can pay him more than anyone else.”
Was Cuban, in fact, confident at that point? Yes, Cuban said, for the same reasons that the Mavericks gave no consideration to trading Brunson before the deadline when it appeared talks had soured.
“Because we thought that we could turn him around,” Cuban said of the Mavericks’ pre-deadline thinking. “We wanted to resign him and we wanted to keep the season going with him. Because JB kept on told us he liked it here. JB never gave us any indications. It’s the parents that were the issues.
“Even the agent said, ‘Worse case, we can do a sign and trade.’ "
And when the season ended?
“We were getting positive vibes after going to the Western Conference finals,” Cuban said. “That made us feel good about signing him, but they never gave us a chance. I mean, if this was all on the up and up, why would the NBA hit them for tampering?”
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The Mavericks planned to meet with Brunson in New York when the free agency period opened on June 30. According to Cuban the franchise had been told it would get an opportunity to match Brunson’s best offer. But Cuban said the franchise quickly realized there was no point going.
Here is how Cuban characterized discussions with Brunson’s representatives that day:
Mavericks: “Well, what’s your number? What’s your number? You guys told us you let us match, so what’s your number?”
Team Brunson: “Well, come up and we’ll figure out if there’s a number.”
Cuban was asked Wednesday whether, in hindsight, he should have tried to outbid the Knicks.
“We didn’t know what the bid was,” he said. “They never gave us a number. Knowing the numbers now, I would have paid it in a heartbeat. But he wouldn’t have come, anyway.”
What would Cuban have been willing to pay? Perhaps we’ll never know. Cuban says he doesn’t know.
“There was no negotiation. They didn’t give us a number. You would think, when we were the incumbent team, that we would have been able to match anything. That’s the way it works. When you have a relationship with the agent, they at least want to give you a chance because you’ve developed a player; you’ve had him for four years; ‘OK, let’s work together.’ "
All Mavericks fans know is that Brunson is nearing the end of an All-NBA-caliber regular season as a Knick and about to enter the playoffs – while the Mavericks as of Wednesday night were fighting for the last play-in spot in the West.
Twitter: @townbrad
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