Jalen Brunson, the best No. 2 option the Mavericks have had next to Luka Doncic, will pull a Knicks jersey over his head before games next season. Now Dallas is on a quest to find a No. 2 option that can turn a good Mavericks team into a true contender (unless they think Tim Hardaway Jr. is that player).
Just don’t expect Doncic to help much with the recruiting.
That’s not his nature, ESPN’s Tim MacMahon said on the Hoop Collective podcast (hat tip Real GM).
It’s fair to ask if the Mavericks had been in the mix for a major free agent this offseason outside of Brunson, would that have been different? If the Mavericks somehow got in the mix next summer for Khris Middleton, would Doncic get involved and do some recruiting? (Note: That is a hypothetical, the Bucks are widely expected to pay up to keep Middleton.)
Doncic isn’t the first star who doesn’t want to or like to recruit, Derrick Rose famously said he would not recruit players to the Bulls (although Carmelo Anthony and others said he did recruit them to Chicago). Ultimately, it’s not his job to recruit, but free agents (and even players coming over in a trade) want to feel wanted and welcomed. Some of that is on Doncic to help set that culture.
It’s more likely the Mavericks — a team on track to pay the luxury tax for the 2022-23 season and already at the salary cap for the following season with just nine players on the roster — will acquire another star via trade. That would require no recruiting from Doncic but a lot more creativity from the front office.
However they pull it off, the Mavericks need to find a true No. 2 to put next to Doncic.
