It is difficult, at this point, to see how there was no gross breach of the Jalen Brunson signature process. The sheer volume of reports and information that journalists could confirm suggests that an agreement was reached long before the start of the free agency, which is currently not allowed under NBA rules. The NBA may look the other way around, with some slight rules being broken, but everyone in the basketball world knew this deal was made Wednesday morning, if not earlier. He was everywhere, from Tim Cato to Tim MacMahon. Which, of course, lead to the opposite reports. Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes told a story that said they would meet Brunson and both teams, and by the way the Heat may be involved. The Heat quickly denied any such interest or encounters. Branson’s men then canceled the meeting they set as a means to divert attention from the rule violation, thus confirming a significant rule violation. It got so silly that two and a half hours before the official #WojBomb, Wojnarowski shared this: Freelance guard Jalen Branson, armed with a five-year offer from the Mavericks worth $ 106 million, goes to a meeting with the New York Knicks within an hour, sources tell ESPN. – Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 30, 2022 Only it seemed that Branson had an offer from the Mavericks? They claim that it was never officially offered. Sams Harania stated that no offer had been made by the Mavericks. Marc Stein also confirmed that Dallas did not make an official offer. It became a circus that was not fun at all. It is worth noting that everyone involved on the Knicks side, including Jalen Brunson, Leon Rose, Adrian Wojnarowski and others, has direct links to the CAA. Strange things happen during any flirtation with free agents, Branson may have decided on the Knicks a long time ago, and yet there is something about the blatant violation of New York rules that even other groups considered inappropriate, at least according to Fred. Katz of the Athletic on the Mavs Moneyball Podcast. Right now I’m just deeply disappointed. Not with one person as I usually am. It all stinks. There have been leaks from Branson camp that he wanted even more opportunities, and situations that have the slightest jealousy eventually upset me a little. They led us to believe that the vibrations were perfect and to learn later that it might not have been something stupid last season. Ultimately, Branson must do his best. While we will certainly return to the fact that Dallas clearly had a price that was very expensive for Branson, all reports also show that the Knicks were an easy choice for him. I know I will miss his constant presence. It’s funny … longtime readers and listeners of our podcasts know that I unjustly accused Brunson of making his decisions. A friend of mine told me for most of the two years that it was not that Branson could not play, but Rick Carlisle told him that his role was to score. And what do you know, under Jason Kidd, Brunson made a leap that we all had to watch in real time. His performances in the Utah series and against the Suns are the ones I will remember for the rest of my days. He’s a special player and he just smells like he had to end up with this level of weird emotion and weird dating and dating reports that make it hard to know what really happened here. Then Jalen Brunson, we will miss seeing you play.
