Jalen Brunson: The One That Got Away

I'll be honest and say that when the Mavs traded Doncic for Davis, yes, I was a bit surprised, but I wasn't one of those kinds of people who couldn't see the logic in the decision.  There were financial factors involved, i.e. do you want to supermax a player who you know isn't likely to lead you to a championship?  And you know, it's sorta like damned if you do, damned if you don't.  Luka was the face of the franchise, and you don't want to alienate your fanbase.  But at the same time, with a superstar like that, if you don't win a championship eventually, those same fans will diss you.

In hindsight, I would say the biggest mistake Dallas made wasn't trading Doncic in and of itself but rather trading one perennially-injured allstar for another, even older perennially-injured allstar.  Also, having Anthony around never panned out as idealized because, excuse my expression, he plays like a bum.

It was blaringly obvious that the Mavs needed an interior presence more than anything.  Remember, we're now in the Wemby Era.  But there goes Anthony, executing crossovers and jacking up three-pointers, as if he isn't 7-feet tall and shit.

But now, let's go back even further to the 2022 Playoffs.  And if you dig back through this blog, this is something I pointed out at that time.

During that postseason, the Mavs were playing better with Brunson and without Luka than they were playing with Luka and without Brunson or with both of them in the lineup.  These kinds of things, they aren't easy to explain logically because of course, Doncic was putting up better stats, perhaps more than anyone else in the entire playoffs.  But he was also of course regularly injured.  Yet the Mavs, depsite being underdogs without him, led by Jalen were pulling off upsets.  And once Luka did return like fulltime, that chemistry or magic was destroyed.

Again, this isn't something I can fully explain, how the team seemed to play better without Doncic, considering that Brunson is an even bigger chuck.  But I would say that maybe, the other Mavs players were able to fukwit him more because, not trying to sound racist or anything, but he plays more of a Black brand of basketball.

Also, back then Luka appeared sorta despondent towards his teammates.  Thankfully, that problem appears to have been solved, as he seems to be a lot more connected and supportive on the Lakers.

Now we can say that, no matter how much money Dallas offered, Brunson was going to bounce anyway, to be with his dad in NY.  If the Mavs' braintrust had inside knowledge of something like that, that they didn't even have a chance, then that would explain why they didn't really try to keep him.

Indeed, the general thinking at the time was, who would pay a king's ransom for Jalen and in the process risk losing Luka?  In other words, no one was even imagining that Brunson may be the better player.  Well, that is to say no one but me.

IS BRUNSON BETTER THAN DONCIC?

So recently I was watching this video about 'who turned out to be best player in each NBA draft', and when the presenter got around to 2018, I was sure he was going to crown Luka.  Remember that both Ayton and Bagley were selected before Doncic, and even the Hawks had a chance to land him but rather opted for Trae Young.  Those decisions have gone down as some of the biggest mishaps in recent draft history.

But who the presenter actually chose - who I had totally forgotten about - is SGA.  And I mean, he's right, now looking back from the future.

I'd still contend that Doncic is the most naturally-talented player in the NBA.  But all of the things people were predicting or hoping for Luka - MVPs and championships and shit like that - it's rather been Shai who's taken them home.  Yet and still, I wouldn't go as far as to say that SGA is the better individual player(?).

And that, dear reader, is the dilemma or confusion surrounding Doncic.  Dude commonly averages close to 10apg, so you can't turnaround and be like he doesn't get his teammates involved.  But it's just like, well, I don't think there's any team in the NBA, including the Lakers who, marketing aside, would rather have Luka than Brunson at this point.  None of them, except arguably the Knicks, could see this coming.

SHOUTOUT TO THE KNICKS

One of the reasons I'm calling this the Wemby Era, even if the Spurs don't win the championship, is because once dude fleshes and like puts on more muscle, man, he's going to be an even bigger problem than he is now.  But as it currently stands, Victor's biggest weakness is his lightassednees.  It appears, at times, that the Thunder tried to exploit that, but they don't really have the personnel to do so, especially with Williams hurt

The Knicks, however, have the personnel.  They have the best all-around wing core in the league, and they are clearly physically stronger than the Spurs.  NYK's starting five is so stacked that Mikal Bridges is like the third or fourth option or some shit.

And the way I see it, going back to Brunson vs. Luka but also with Bridges vs. Durant, that's the biggest challenge of being an NBA braintrust, as far as roster decisions are concerned.  You're forced to constantly deal with this dilemma of having to choose between what the fans want, i.e. marketability, versus actually winning.  But of course, we don't have that problem at NBA Inception.  Here, we can tell the truth.

So if you dig back, you'll see that when the Suns traded KD for Bridges, I was like why?  Kevin is and by the looks of things always will be more popular.  But, as I argued back then, Bridges is the better all-around player.

CONCLUSION

In a perfect world, all braintrusts would be incepted, and every team would consequently be a contender(?).  But in the real world, you know, niggas be doing some dumb shit.  Like if the Lakers were going to trade AD - remember, this is a franchise that always had like the best C in the league and won accordingly.  So if you're going to trade AD, why for Luka anyway?  That was a Hollywood-inspired decision.  So anytime a superstar is involved in a transaction the question must be asked - is this decision based more on popularity or competitiveness?  The Rockets going after KD, was that more about popularity or competitiveness?  Could they have made wiser decisions in pursuit of the Larry O'Brien?  And on the flip side of the coin, what about players who are devalued because they aren't popular?

Draft Rules' Inception

A couple of days ago, I read an exhaustive article via Yahoo!Sports explaining the new draft rules, but I still don't understand that shit.  To be totally honest, I never really understood the old or current rules to begin with.

What I did take away from the exposition is that tanking has been disincentived and furthermore, bottom-of-the-barrel teams are now being penalized.  The main reason I wrote this post is to point out that latter idea is something I actually introduced to the world years ago.  More specifically, I argued that teams who are perennially bad, such as the Kings, should be thrown out of the league for a year to teach them a lesson.  Mind you, that was like back in 2022, and Sacramento still sucks (though they did have a brief resurgence).

And this is the funny thing about it.  The bottom teams possessing the best statistical chances of landing a top pick is a rule that's been around for as long as I can remember.  Yet, I can't say I recall dudes tanking back in the days.  Maybe in the days of yore, organizations had too much pride?  Maybe I didn't fully understand what was going on?

THE HINKIE ERA

That all changed with "the Process" in Philly.  And here's the funny thing about.  Out of all those high draft picks, the Sixers only landed two stars, and this generation has yet, if ever, to win a championship.  And when I say two stars, I'm not, btw, referring to Maxey as one of them. He was drafted all the way down at 21 and in the 2020s. 

And that's the true strength of Philly's braintrust ,imo - finding gems.  Yes, they drafted Carter-Williams, Okafour and Fultz, three guys who've had careers but never really panned out.  But again, even amidst those decisions and then later losing Simmons, they've remained akin to perennial contenders.  They're still getting value for those picks, if you will.

But going back to this no championship thing, again you gotta ask, what's the ultimate goal?  Is it to land high draft picks just for picking's sake, or is it to actually win it all?

Or, in summation, let's say that high draft picks alone don't lead to a championship.  If you say before Wemby the generational talent was Lebron and before him MJ, then that means those types of players who can win it all on their own, so to speak, only come around once every 20 years.  It's possible that another multi-skilled player even taller than Victor, or a stud stronger than Lebron, or a star more marketable as MJ, will eventually come along.  But is it really likely?

LET THEM EAT CAKE

So you, as a low level yet ambitious team executive, walk into the boardrooom, straight to the owner and are like 'boss, our rivals just drafted Wemby'.  Then he screams at you and says 'then go draft Holmgren!'

I've been saying for years that coaching matters.  I've also been saying that now, many coaches are just more or less figureheads.  When every man, 1 to 5, is empowered to jackup shots at will, that's not coaching.  I kept saying, not every nigga is Steph.  But I didn't foresee that it would be someone as different from Curry as Wemby who finally got that point across, though I did know that eventually the post would become important again.

So in the WCF you had these little guys - and yes, they looked nephews standing next to Victor - deadass driving to the paint, trying to execute layups with dude directly on them.  WTF?  It reaches a point where you're just like, that's stupid.  Or rather let me say, they've been doing shit like that with no repercussions for so long that now it's hard for them to stop.

So yeah, coaching.  SGA recently called Sam Presti 'the best GM ever' or some shit.  So, let the Thunder run it back and prove that first ring wasn't a fluke.  But that said, if they're able to keep their starting five + McCain + Caruso and still land Giannis, I'm all for it.  Look at what type of superteaming you have to do to beat Wemby.

CONCLUSION

Remember when Draymond blew up the Kings' spot and was like niggas ain't even competing?  Yes, enough of the bullshit already.

Fuck happened to David vs. Goliath?  Where are the underdogs these days?  There's this video just uploaded to YouTube where dude is like the NBA rigged the 2023 Draft, because the Spurs have proven that they know what to do with players like Wemby.  Yeah, fuck that.  Draft picks don't win championships (most of the time) - braintrusts do.

2026 Elimination Ruminations: OKC Thunder

OKC THUNDER (11-4)

In the last post, I sorta implied - or maybe it sounded like I took for granted - that the Thunder would win, but I didn't mean it like that.  What I was saying is that, imo, they would have been a better matchup for the Knicks.  That is to say that if any team in the East has the perimeter defenders (not including KAT or Brunson) to counteract the Spurs, it's NYK.

And you know, I wasn't the only person sounding like OKC was going to win.  Even mainstream outlets were doing the same, to the point that I even heard one YouTuber claim there was some type of rigging conspiracy in their favor.  Well, he was obviously wrong.  "The Dragon" won't be released this year.

JUSTICE IS SERVED

I've been saying for a year now that if Haliburton hadn't tripped over a banana peel in Game 7 of the 2025 Finals, it was very much looking, from the onset, like the Pacers were going to upset the Thunder and furthermore blow them TF out.  In hindsight, OKC's braintrust should have taken that more seriously, i.e. made some type of significant upgrade.

Maybe they were thinking 'oh, Tyrese is hurt. We ain't got nothing to worry about this season'.  You know, they believed their own press type shit.  Indeed, the danger of everybody being on your d*ck is thinking you're better than you actually are.

That's taking nothing away from Jared McCain who, for spurts, looked like OKC's best player.  The way the Thunder acquired him reinforced just how exceptional their braintrust is.

Also, shoutout to Jalen Williams.  Now we see that yes, despite their depth or regular season dominance, his playability is integral to this team's overall success.  But he's obviously not a true Pippen in terms of durability.

It's also safe to predict that now, all of that SGA MVP shit will stop, not saying that he isn't deserving though.  Some people say that he's boring to watch, but I beg to differ.  Having this relatively-slow PG who you like already know what he's going to do but still can't stop is must-watch, imo.  He's the most-methodical high-scoring PG since John Stockton (though not necessarily comparing the two).  But by the end of the day, he was effectively neutralized by Wemby.  And you know, it ain't like Shai can go to the gym during the offseason and grow a foot taller or some shit.

This is only Wembanyama's third season, but I think it's safe to say he's the best defender I've ever seen.  Lebron, in his prime, could guard the 1 through 5, though you wouldn't want to put him (defensively) against the bigger Cs.  But big or small, Wemby can defend them all.

SHOUTOUT TO THE SPURS

The Spurs are the only team who have more or less been contenders for 30 years straight.  They won at least one championship in the 1990s, 2000s, 2010s and now possibly 2020s.  That's three different roster iterations (though two were led by Duncan).  No other franchise, not even the Lakers, can make that claim.

Picking Wemby a couple of years back was a no-brainer.  So what they should really be applauded for was drafting Castle who, the way I remember it, wasn't particularly popular coming into the league.

I remember when dude won ROY, and pundits were like 'so what. The class is garbage, so who else you gonna choose?'.  I remember they were even talking like, once the Spurs acquired Fox (and later drafted Harper) that they should just trade dude away or some shit.  Man, were they wrong.  When he banged it on SGA - I think that was in Game 4 or 5 - that's when you knew that they MVP was indeed beatable.

Speaking of which, my favorite thing about this series was the physicality.  Dudes played like real men, like now, you can see the difference between the NBA and WNBA(?).  All types of bodies were flying, with Wemby's light ass getting thrown to the floor nightly.  Yet, no punches were thrown, although I think there was like one altercation.

That's the scariest thing about Victor, imo.  His height, coupled with his mobility, is intrinsically an unfair advantage in the game of basketball.  It's more of a natural advantage than Steph having twice the shooting genes of Dell.  You see all types of players now mimicking Curry to success.  But there's no way they can copy Wemby.

But the truly scariest thing, I meant to say, is his competitiveness.  Even with all of his talent and advantages, dude is out there playing dirty and shit, you know, throwing elbows and taking cheap shots, like he really wants to win.  But as he becomes the most-popular player in the NBA, i.e. someone finally surpassing LBJ, the refs need to keep an eye on that type of shit.  You don't want the face of the league earning the reputation of a bad boy, because then, everyone else will follow.

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

Despite all that shit I was talking earlier, I don't think OKC's roster need any changes at this point, not with the recent acquisition of McCain and the emergence of Caruso.  In fact, as far as this postseason for instance, it almost seems like they now have more rotation players than they can accommodate, even with the absence of Williams.

Rather, the main priority should be the health of Jalen.  But you know, as I always say with these young injuries, who knows if dude will ever fully recuperate?  The good news is that he already won a championship, as well as made an All-Star Game.  The bad news is that, oh shit, he hasn't even gotten past his rookie contract yet(!).

This iteration of the Thunder have to play it back at least one more season to see if they can get revenge.  But that said, it takes both Holmgren and Hartenstein to attempt to neutralize Wemby.  So if anything, they obviously need another big, one who can come off the bench and actually have an interior impact against the best in the league.