Dallas Mavericks: Is Jalen Brunson the long term answer?

The NBA finals are here, and for the Dallas Mavericks they must figure out how they can get back to the basketball promise land. They have a ton of questions they must answer, as they wait for the offseason to begin.

One of their biggest question marks is the signing of point guard Jalen Brunson. The young star proved to a key asset for the Mavs as he helped carry the team past the first round of the playoffs. It is believed that the 25 year old will earn big bucks this summer as he looks to increase from his yearly salary of $1,766.970.

For the Dallas Mavericks they must the biggest whether or not Brunson is worth their time and money.

Is Jalen Brunson the long term answer for the Dallas Mavericks?

If you had asked him this question offseason, I would’ve had no problem letting him walk away. You see during the 2021 NBA playoffs Brunson averaged around eight points a game, as he had just two double digit games against the Los Angeles Clippers.

His 2020-2021 numbers weren’t fairly impressive either as he averaged 12.6 points per game. This was somewhat of an improvement as the year before he scored around just 8.2 points.

Fast forward to this past season and he took his game to another level. During the season he averaged 16.3 points per game, to go with 50 percent shooting from the field.

During the playoffs he improved even more as he scored 21 points game, an eight point increase from the postseason before. His best postseason performance came in game two against the Utah Jazz. That night he finished with 41 points on 60 percent shooting from the field and behind the three point line.

It is no lie he played a pivotal role in helping Dallas reach the Western Conference Finals.

So what was the biggest difference? 

Honestly you can list a variety of reasons why Brunson stepped up this season. From attacking the rim more, increasing his shot opportunities and just being the number two option (since Kristaps Porzingis was traded), there is no clear reason as to why he became that guy.

However if you had to narrow it down it was more than likely due to the increase in minutes on the court. Under Coach Jason Kidd, Brunson averaged around 31.9 minutes a game. Before this season, he failed to be on the court more than 25 minutes.

During the 2021 playoffs, he would be seen for around 16 minutes. This postseason he was in the lineup 34 minutes a game.

The trust and confidence Coach Kidd had in Brunson allowed him to excel in a variety of ways.

There is no question Dallas is going to have competition if they hope to resign their young guard.

Going back to the question though, yes I do believe he can be that guy for the Mavs. He stepped up in a variety of ways and proved to be a huge sidekick next to all-star Luka Doncic.

Let us Marc Cuban and friends do the right thing and this isn’t a repeat of Steve Nash years ago.