Mark Cuban Admits to Whiffing on Jalen Brunson's Potential: A Cautionary Tale for the Mavericks

Jalen Brunson is currently on top of the world after leading the New York Knicks to their first NBA championship since 1973. His impressive performance throughout the series was capped off by an electrifying 45 points in the closeout Game 5, with all of those points being crucial as Karl-Anthony Towns fouled out.

This outstanding Game 5 performance led to Brunson being named the Finals MVP. Notably, he scored over 40% of the Knicks' fourth quarter points, the most of any player since Dirk Nowitzki in 2011. This remarkable display only added insult to injury for Dallas Mavericks fans, as Nowitzki's last year in the NBA was shared with a rookie Jalen Brunson, who had the opportunity to learn from Nowitzki and fellow 2018 draftee, Luka Doncic.

The Mavericks let Brunson walk in the 2022 offseason, continuing a franchise-long trend of letting talented guards leave and it coming back to bite them. Mark Cuban, the majority owner at the time and now a minority owner, admits he didn't see Brunson becoming this type of player. "It was really, really simple. We didn’t see JB as what he would become," Cuban admitted on the "House of Haymaker" podcast recently.

"He showed that star potential when Luka [Doncic] got hurt, and he won those games against Utah for us, but we were trying to get a star to put next to Luka, and JB’s star had not risen yet," he also said. Cuban isn't entirely incorrect, as no one thought Brunson would be this type of player. Even if he played well in the 2022 playoffs, the Knicks were still heavily criticized for giving Brunson over $100 million that offseason.

While Brunson doesn't quite fit the mold of other mistakes the Mavericks have made with their guards, he certainly worked his way into that discussion. Between letting Steve Nash and Jalen Brunson walk in free agency, and trading away Jason Kidd and Luka Doncic before they hit their primes, the Mavs always have a tendency to do this. They could have potentially had a star backcourt of Luka Doncic and Jalen Brunson for years to come.

Instead, the Mavericks let Brunson walk, had to make a trade for Kyrie Irving (which worked) when his reputation wasn't exactly stellar, then traded away Luka Doncic, who made the whole team work. One day, the Mavericks will learn to just hold on to their star guards.

Looking ahead, Brunson's incredible performance should serve as a cautionary tale for the Mavericks. By letting talented guards go and not giving them the opportunity to grow with the team, they may be passing up a chance to create a core that could lead them to success in the future. It's a reminder that building a successful team requires patience, foresight, and a willingness to hold onto talented players.