Luka Doncic doesn’t hold back on how much Mavs miss Knicks’ Jalen Brunson

The Mavericks’ 2022-23 season is quickly going down the drain. Even with Luka Doncic averaging a career-high 32.8 points, Dallas is at risk of missing the play-in tournament after making it to the Western Conference Finals last year.

While the Mavericks are struggling, Jalen Brunson and the Knicks are on the rise. New York secured a playoff berth with Sunday’s win over Washington and will get to skip the play-in tournament altogether. The Knicks have outperformed many expectations and the biggest reason for that is Brunson.

The point guard was drafted No. 33 overall by Dallas in 2018. Rather than retain their homegrown talent, the Mavericks made a horrible mistake by letting Brunson walk in free agency to sign a four-year, $014 million contract with the Knicks. Keep in mind that Dallas could’ve signed him to a four-year, $55 million contract last year. Yikes.

Doncic’s efforts haven’t been enough to save the Mavericks. Nor was the Kyrie Irving trade enough to save the Mavericks. Dallas’ season has stood out for all the wrong reasons.

With the end of the regular season rapidly approaching, Doncic revealed how much he and his team miss Brunson.

Luka Doncic admits he and Mavericks miss Knicks’ Jalen Brunson “a lot”

Even before hearing Luka Doncic’s answer to the question, you should’ve already known what he was going to say. There’s no doubt that he and the Mavericks miss Jalen Brunson. While it isn’t Doncic’s fault that Dallas let Brunson go, the guard’s absence has been felt by all.

In the 17 games that Brunson played in for the Mavericks last season without Doncic, he averaged 20.4 points, 7.5 assists, and 3.9 rebounds while shooting 49.3% from the field and 35% from three. Better yet, in the three games that Dallas was without Doncic in the 2022 playoffs, Brunson averaged an absurd 32 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 5.3 assists while shooting 50.7% from the floor and 41.2% from deep. His presence is what helped propel the Mavericks to the WCF.

Brunson’s stats without Doncic last season were a small glimpse into what he would go on to accomplish in 2022-23. The Knicks have greatly benefitted from the Mavericks’ mistakes, and that extends beyond Dallas not re-signing Brunson.

Brunson may not be at Irving’s level, and Irving isn’t the reason for Dallas’ poor season, but the Mavericks would’ve been far better off if they would’ve kept Brunson. Luckily for New York, that didn’t happen. One team’s loss is another’s gain.

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