Pablo Torre, host of the podcast “Pablo Torre Finds Out,” welcomed guest Mark Cuban onto his latest episode to debate Torre’s bombshell report regarding Kawhi Leonard, Steve Ballmer, and the Clippers allegedly circumventing the salary cap.
But Torre and the former Mavericks owner also touched on Jalen Brunson, and if there was a possibility that something similar to the Clippers situation could be uncovered if some digging was done into the Knicks and the signing of their current superstar.
Brunson left the Mavs to sign with the Knicks prior to the 2022-23 season, inking a four-year, $104 million deal. Cuban does not seem to be over that departure, which only happened after Dallas twice rejected Brunson’s offer to sign a four-year, $55 million extension. Torre directly asked Cuban if his Mavericks had circumvented the salary cap 11 years ago to sign Dirk Nowitzki, which he emphatically denied (and Torre presented his own reporting to corroborate Cuban’s denial). Torre followed by asking if Cuban felt that the Knicks had circumvented the cap when they signed Brunson three years ago.
“I don’t know,” Cuban said. “I just think there was a lot at play there.
“More power to JB. More power to everything. Was I happy they only got dinged for a second-round pick? No. No, it should have been far worse. But it is what it is.”
The Knicks were in fact penalized a second-round pick after the NBA discovered that New York had talked with Brunson prior to the start of free agency. Given that Brunson has blossomed into a true star and helped elevate the Knicks to levels they have not seen in a quarter of a century, it’s fair to say the Knicks would happily repeat their process to bring in Brunson, regardless of the draft pick penalty.
But Cuban is clearly suggesting that there was more going on than just early free agency discussions, though nothing has ever been found to support that, even after the league investigated the timeline of the Knicks’ talks with Brunson.
Clearly, Cuban has not gotten over the nature of Brunson’s departure, and the Mavericks’ hesitancy to pay a miniscule $55 million over four years to a former second-round pick who is now the face of a team many expect to be the favorite in the Eastern Conference this season.