NBA Veteran Compares New York Knicks Move to Luka Doncic Trade

So much has transpired since Jalen Brunson joined the New York Knicks that it’s easy to forget just close, and how easily, the concept was to being a fantasy.

All it would’ve taken was $55 million from the Dallas Mavericks to prevent from Brunson from ascending to the Knicks’ captaincy but Mavs management, featuring general manager Nico Harrison, opted to let him hit the market. Harrison has since become the target of never-ending hardwood jokes for his shocking trade of Dallas franchise face Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Despite the recent headlines, NBA veteran-turned-analyst Chandler Parsons remarked that watching Brunson go east should go down as Harrison’s most damning move.

“Not resigning Jalen Brunson to a $55 million extension could be worse than trading Luka Doncic,” Parsons declared on FanDuel’s web series “Run It Back.”

Parsons and fellow panelists/NBA alumni Danny Green and Lou Williams, as well as show host Michelle Beadle, were naming the “All-Nick Trade Team” consisting of contributors traded under Harrison’s watch. Former Knicks Quentin Grimes and Kristaps Porzingis were also on the list, as was Derrick Jones Jr.

Beadle argued that the Brunson that played with Doncic was a different player, but Parsons insisted that he was “still worth well beyond $55 million.” Brunson has gone to prove that on a nightly basis and then some, becoming the franchise face of the Knicks and establishing himself as one of the most clutch shooters in the Association.

The Knicks pounced with a four-year, $104 million deal that looks like a bargain with each passing day, while the Mavericks have been criticized for letting him walk. Dallas reached the NBA Finals last season but reaction to the Doncic trade has been almost unanimously negative, especially after the main haul from the deal, Anthony Davis, endured a lengthy injury in his first North Texas showing.

Ironically enough, Brunson and the Knicks (40-20) are set to face Doncic as a Laker for the first time, as they’ll be in Southern California on Thursday night. In the meantime, they host the Golden State Warriors at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET, TNT).

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