NBA Rumors: How Confident Are The Mavericks in Re-Signing Jalen Brunson?

The absence of Luka Doncic in three of the Dallas Mavericks' first-round games against the Utah Jazz allowed guard Jalen Brunson to announce his arrival as a true star in the NBA. He carried the team on his back during Luka's absence, averaging 32 points and 5.3 assists in those three games, and finishing the series averaging 27.8 points, more than 10 points above his season average.

Brunson is scheduled to be a free agent this summer, and with word having circulated earlier this season that he'd be looking for something in the range of a 4-year, $80M contract (further solidified by his playoff performance), observers were wondering how likely it would be for Dallas to be able to retain him. On top of that, his father Rick, who also played in the NBA said there'd be no discount offered. 

But according to NBA Insider Marc Stein, it sounds like the Mavericks think they're in good stead here. 

Behind the scenes... (Mavs) team officials are expressing clear confidence that they will re-sign Jalen Brunson in the offseason.

Make no mistake, the Mavs will have some hefty competition for Brunson's services, teams ready to spend, as noted by Stein.

Detroit and Indiana are two teams with considerable cap space known to have interest in signing Brunson this summer. New York’s interest has also been well-chronicled, even though the Knicks will have to make some moves to create sufficient financial flexibility to compete with the offers Brunson is expected to command that could exceed $80 million over four seasons.

During the regular season, the 25-year-old Brunson averaged 16.3 points, 3.9 rebounds and 4.8 assists, while shooting 37.3% from three. 

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