Jalen Brunson came into the NBA with Luka Donu010diu0107 in the 2018 draft.
He’s now going out on his own after departing the Mavericks, signing a free-agent contract with the New York Knicks on Tuesday for a reported $104 million over four seasons.
That’s roughly $98 million more than Brunson earned for four years of service in Dallas. And it couldn’t happen to a better guy.
The Mavericks could have offered more total money. But Brunson’s heart told him to follow a dream back to the team that he idolized as a kid, the place where his father, Rick, was hired as an assistant coach under Tom Thibodeau and a puddle-jump from Jalen’s adopted home area of suburban Philadelphia.