Mavs guard Luka Doncic admits the franchise has missed Jalen Brunson a great deal this season.

Doncic and Brunson helped Dallas reach the Western Conference finals last year where they bowed out in five games to the eventual champions in the Golden State Warriors.

Brunson notably took a step up averaging 16.3 points and 4.8 assists over 79 regular season games before averaging 21.6 points during the playoffs. That was enough to earn him a lucrative four-year, $104 million contract with the New York Knicks in free agency.

Any doubts as to whether he was worth that contract were quelled as Brunson has averaged 24 points over 68 games to help the Knicks to a 46-33 record so far, clinching another playoff appearance in the process.

The Mavericks, meanwhile, would acquire Kyrie Irving in a blockbuster trade, but are now virtually out of play-in contention. Having lost seven of their last 10 games, Dallas is now the No. 11 seed with a 37-42 record.

Doncic acknowledged the Mavs haven't been able to recreate much of the chemistry last season and when asked if the team has missed Brunson given their woes, the Slovenian got brutally honest.

“A lot,” Doncic said with a pained smile (via ESPN's Tim MacMahon). “I mean, amazing guy, amazing player, for sure.”

The Mavs are still a game behind the Oklahoma City Thunder who are the No. 10 seed so there's still an outside chance. However, OKC have the tie-breaker and will need to go 1-2 in their final three games while Dallas will have to win all three of their remaining games in order to make the play-ins.

Perhaps if they offered Brunson a more lucrative contract last season, they wouldn't have been in this position to begin with.