SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – MAY 18: Jalen Brunson #13 of the Dallas Mavericks celebrates a basket … [+]
After trading Nerlens Noel and Alec Burks to the Detroit Pistons, the Knicks have cleared $19 million in cap space and are now in position to offer Dallas Mavericks point guard Jalen Brunson a four-year deal in the neighborhood of $110 million once free agency begins at 6 p.m. Thursday, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported.
The Knicks currently have about $33.9 million in cap space and could pay Brunson $26-27 million next season and still have about $7 million left in cap space, ESPN’s Bobby Marks reported Wednesday during “NBA Today.”
“Right now they’ve got the cap space to go out and sign Jalen Brunson outright,” Marks said.
Brunson is expected to meet in New York with the Knicks, Mavericks and Miami Heat, Yahoo reported, adding it will take “somewhere close to a five-year, $125 million commitment from the Mavericks to prevent Brunson from signing with the Knicks, sources said.”
The point guard-starved Knicks have made Brunson their No. 1 priority in free agency, even hiring his father, former NBA point guard Rick Brunson, as an assistant to Tom Thibodeau’s staff. Rick Brunson was President Leon’s Rose’s first player client when Rose was an agent.
The Knicks have had a revolving door of point guards over the years and acquiring Brunson, 25, would mean adding a young player they believe has a significant upside going forward.
He has improved every year in the NBA since he came out of Villanova in 2018 and would have the opportunity with the Knicks to shine as the dominant ball-handler as opposed to playing next to a perennial MVP candidate in Luka Doncic.
With Doncic on the court, Brunson averaged 14.8 points and 3.5 assists. With Doncic off the court, he averaged 22.1 points and 7.4 assists.
Overall, Brunson averaged 16.3 points, 4.8 assists and 3.9 rebounds last season.
“They’re chasing him down in free agency,” ESPN’s Matt Barnes said on air of the Knicks and Brunson. “It’s a very solid pickup. I don’t know if it moves the needle.
“I want to know what else the Knicks have up their sleeve. This is a very solid piece but I don’t know if this is a move that puts them in playoff position automatically.”
Brunson won the Naismith Trophy in 2018 when he led Villanova to its second NCAA championship under Jay Wright.
“The no. 1 quality that he brings is leadership,” ESPN’s Tim Legler said. “This is a guy that has been a leader on every team he’s been on. He puts the ball on his hip and he directs traffic
“His IQ and his verbal communication skills, this is a guy the Knicks are going to need. They haven’t really had that kind of leadership at that position in a long time.”