Jalen Brunson reveals just how massively Mavericks bungled contract talks

Jalen Brunson played the first four seasons of his NBA career with the Dallas Mavericks and quickly became a star.

At the end of the 2021-22 season, Brunson became a free agent and later signed with the New York Knicks. But there was a time when Brunson believed he was going to be able to stay in Dallas.

In fact, Brunson recently revealed on the podcast "All the Smoke" with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson that he wanted to stay in Dallas and even approached them twice about signing a four-year, $55 million contract extension.

However, the Mavericks ultimately declined to offer him the extension and let him get away. Now, he's an MVP candidate with the Knicks.

"I wanted to stay there," said Brunson. "I thought I would be there for a long time, and I liked my role there."

Jalen Brunson reveals how Dallas Mavericks fumbled the bag

Brunson also revealed that the Mavericks wanted to wait and see where they were after 20-25 games into the season before giving him an extension. Brunson wasn't having it.

"We were like, 'All right, well, if you're not going to do it, I kind of don't want to do it until after the season. I'm not trying to think about this (during the season)."

However, the straw that broke the camel's back came after the Mavericks lost the Western Conference Finals to the Golden State Warriors.

"I remember seeing something on Twitter after the game, and it was Mark saying, 'Hey, we can pay him the most money,'" Brunson recalled. "He says that in the interview literally right after the game. After that it's like crickets."

That is ultimately what prompted him to leave Dallas.

The Mavericks clearly made a major mistake not extending Brunson. They could have still had a frontcourt featuring him and Luka Doncic. Instead, the Mavericks dragged their feet and ended up paying the price.

Now, the Knicks have re-emerged as a title contender, with Brunson leading the way as an MVP candidate. And while Dallas remains one of the top teams in the Western Conference, they could have turned into a powerhouse, but missed the opportunity to do so.