NBA free agency officially opens Thursday at 6 p.m. ET, but it's likely a lot of news will leak out before then, and according to multiple reports it's all but a certainty that Dallas Mavericks point guard'Jalen Brunson will sign as an unrestricted free agent with the New York Knicks on a four-year, $110 million deal. The SportsLine Projection Model (see below) has run sims with the Knicks adding Brunson and the Mavericks losing him.
In a way, the M avericks are being penalized for their terrific draft choice of Brunson in the 2018 second round because second-rounders don't have a rookie fifth-year option teams can pick up. Dallas opted not to offer Brunson a max contract entering the 2021-22 season and apparently will now lose him for nothing. Brunson declined the Mavericks' offer of a four-year, $55.5 million contract extension after the trade deadline.
The former Villanova star averaged 16.3 points, 4.8 assists and 3.9 rebounds during the regular season and 21.6 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.7 assists in the playoffs as Dallas reached the Western Conference Finals. Brunson definitely earned millions of dollars with his postseason play.
The Knicks cleared up the requisite cap space to sign Brunson on Tuesday by agreeing to trade center Nerlens Noel and guard Alec Burks to the Detroit Pistons. The move afforded New York $19 million in cap relief. The Knicks included two future second-round picks and $6 mil lion to incentivize the trade and now have about $30 million in cap space.