The Dallas Mavericks are in the midst of a dogfight with the Utah Jazz as the two teams are currently tied 2-2 in their first-round series. Not many people gave the Mavs a chance early on after Luka Doncic missed the first three games, but that changed in a hurry once Jalen Brunson burst onto the scene and absolutely torched the Jazz, scoring 72 points between Games 2 and 3 and committing just one turnover.
Per ESPN's Tim MacMahon, The former Villanova star was eligible to sign a $55.5 million extension with the Mavs last summer, but they never even discussed it with Brunson after his playoff struggles against the Clippers. That said, once he broke out in January and started to thrive, Dallas came calling with the new deal right after the trade deadline in February. However, Brunson simply wanted to finish the season and focus on the task at hand.
Needless to say, the Mavs guard is about to get paid a lot more than $55 million this summer, whether it's by Dallas or another organization. Brunson averaged 16.3 points and 4.8 assists per night in 2021/22 while shooting 50% from the field. In the postseason alone, he's posting 29.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 4.8 dimes. Talk about utterly dominant.
Now, it's expected Brunson will fetch a new deal in the $20 million per season range. That's certainly a far cry from the $1.8 million he's making in the final year of his rookie contract.
Jalen Brunson bet on himself and it's about to pay off. Also, you can't blame him for snubbing the Mavs. They could've offered him the extension in January but wanted to wait and see if a star was available via trade in February. Once that wasn't a reality, Dallas then backtracked to Brunson. Good on him for waiting it out.
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