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While the odyssey has been said many times between the split of current New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson and his former team in the Dallas Mavericks, the talk of how the star was first drafted in 2018 was revealed by owner Mark Cuban. Brunson was on the Mavericks from 2018-2022 and before he was selected with the 33rd overall pick, Cuban went into what scouts were telling him about the Knicks star.
Cuban would answer the question of Knicks star Josh Hart “Mark, why'd you guys draft JB? This little fat headed kid from Villanova” on his podcast with Brunson called “Roommates Show.” Cuban would go into the story of how they traded up for Luka Doncic and got the pick that eventually selected Brunson coming out of Villanova, who was teammates even back then with Hart and other Knicks players like Donte DiVincenzo and the newly acquired Mikal Bridges.
“I'll tell you the whole war room story, man, it was great,” Cuban said on the podcast. “So we picked Luka, traded up to get Luka, and we get to 31 and there's all the scouts that were like, JB, JB, JB, he's a winner, yada yada, little bit chubby, not quite as fast, not super athletic, you can't put a value on that. That's our guy. And then we had Yogi Ferrell, who was from Indiana. The decision was made to draft JB, and then Yogi took a deal with the Sacramento Kings.”
“A little bit chubby, not quite as fast, not super athletic, but he’s a winner.”
Mark Cuban on Jalen Brunson’s scouting report 😂
(via @Roommates__Show)pic.twitter.com/3QDzSs7N7U
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) August 30, 2024
Where Jalen Brunson and the Mavericks are at in the present
As said before, Brunson was on Dallas for four seasons where his best year was his last where he averaged 16.3 points, 4.8 assists, and 3.9 rebounds per game while shooting 50.2 percent from the field and 37.3 percent from three-point range. Brunson would then become a free agent and signed a contract with the Knicks where he immediately became the top option, especially this past season where he averaged 28.7 points, 6.7 assists, and 3.6 rebounds per game while shooting 47.9 percent from the field and 40.1 percent from the three-point line.
Looking at the Mavericks though, the team would still be led by superstar Luka Doncic, though fans of the team wonder what it would have been like to see both players on the same team at their peaks. However, Dallas fans can't complain too much since they are coming off of a season where they went to the NBA Finals, though losing to the Boston Celtics in five games.
