DALLAS, TX – On Thursday Jalen Brunson officially signed a four-year $104 million dollar deal with the New York Knicks to go play with Tom Thibodeau and his dad, Rick Brunson.
According to sources the Mavericks had many opportunities to sign Brunson and extend his current contract for $56 million and the head office in Dallas decided not to do that on both occasions. One opportunity was before the 2021-22 season and another opportunity appeared in January and they did not seek any moves at that time either.
With Brunson off to the Knicks, Dallas has lost their second best player and need to get someone that can take over the obvious role that Brunson played in this last season for the Mavs.
Another free-agent that was on Dallas’s roster was Theo Pinson. Pinson was signed to a one-year deal with the Mavs and will remain with Dallas next season.
Pinson averages 2.9 points per game and 1.1 assists in his career in the NBA. Pinson is a huge spirit on the bench for Dallas and they wanted to keep that for next season.
The Mavericks also signed Center JaVale McGee to a three-year deal for $20.1 million. This deal includes a player option in year three of the contract. McGee was a free-agent after finishing off the 2021-22 season with the Phoenix Suns.
McGee was the backup center for the Suns last season and had his best season yet. He averaged 9.2 points and 6.7 rebounds per game while shooting 57.6 percent. McGee gave the Suns depth down low that they used to have a winning season.
Dallas needs depth down low and that was seen in the postseason after they got killed on the boards against the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals. Dallas currently has Christian Wood, JaVale McGee, Dwight Powell, Maxi Kleber, and Davis Bertans in the Center spot.
McGee told ESPN that he expects to be Dallas’s starting center, “I saw some opportunities out there where I was like, ‘Oh yeah if they have a rolling big, they could dominate in a different aspect.”
McGee has a lot of experience in the NBA as he enters his 15th season. McGee has been on three championship teams, the Golden State Warriors (2017-2018) and the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020.
McGee will play for head coach Jason Kidd, who was on the coaching staff in Los Angeles when they won the title in 2020.
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