Doncic revealed that he did not watch much of the NBA Finals, but said he sent Brunson a message after his title win, noting that he was impressed with his performance in leading the Knicks to their first championship in over 50 years.

“Well, I barely watched anything,” Doncic said. “But I think he played very well. I sent him a message, and he must be very happy.”

When asked about what could have been if he and Brunson had stayed on the same team, Doncic acknowledged that their duo would have been very good, noting that both players have improved a lot since their last playoff run together with the Dallas Mavericks.

“We have improved a lot every year. We are not the players we were before. It would have been very good, for sure,” Doncic said.

Source: https://basketnews.com/news-249866-luka-doncic-gets-honest-about-jalen-brunson-winning-nba-title-with-knicks.html

iksnet | Knicks

394 | 21 hours ago

2024: Porzingis ring

2026: Brunson ring

Congrats to 2028 NBA Champion Quentin Grimes

PhatYeeter | 76ers

66 | 21 hours ago

Morey pulled the trigger too soon

dmavs11 | NBA

14 | 15 hours ago

hold up theres still time for Reggie Bullock to make a come back

TappedRidgeline | Knicks

9 | 17 hours ago

It was fun seeing him and deuce play each other in the playoffs for a couple plays, i remember a story about them playing one on ones all the time to get better at defense in their rookie year

hawkins126 | Lakers

188 | 21 hours ago

Thank you Nico very very cool

Available_Story6774 | West

39 | 21 hours ago

If he kept Brunson in 2022 and never traded Luka, how does NBA history change?

HungryPercentage1667 | Knicks

121 | 21 hours ago

The Knicks don’t win a chip then

ejensen29 | MIN

57 | 21 hours ago

Nah, bro. Julius just needed more time in the oven.

doomdeathdecay | Knicks

49 | 19 hours ago

We would be ringless but that man deserves the credit for trying when no one else would. Sure, the money helped. But I watched him play every night and he sacrificed his body. Wasn’t gunna get us a ring but he would’ve given anything to try. I respect that.

HungryPercentage1667 | Knicks

40 | 21 hours ago

Don’t do Julius like that, he has a special place in my heart 😭😭

LukaDoncicMFFL | NBA

11 | 18 hours ago

Dallas never needs to trade for Kyrie and can use the trade package (DFS + Dinwiddie + 2029 1st + 2 2nds) to trade for another piece to complement a Brunson + Luka core. Kyrie probably gets dumped by the Nets to any other playoff team desperate for a point guard (probably the Suns at the time).

Iwentoofar

6 | 20 hours ago

Theres no way Brunson flourishes alongside Luka but I do think playing with him for that time definitely contributed to him becoming the star he is

NotingAndQuoting | Knicks

156 | 21 hours ago

Until the finals Brunson was doing a nice amount of playing off ball and was quite effective in it, I have to imagine some of that skill came from playing with Luka

TangerineStrong3781 | Lakers

90 | 21 hours ago

It’s a Harden in OKC situation, good player but they were never going to be the players they became until they left and got their own teams.

HokageEzio | Knicks

61 | 21 hours ago

Or a Nash in Phoenix situation after the Mavs let him walk.

Thankfully Cuban would never make that mistake again.

imcryptic | Mavericks

4 | 4 hours ago

Cuban is fucking lucky that we won in 2011 and Dirk is Dirk. If we don’t win in 2011 he would be Dolan-level hated in Dallas the way this all turned out.

Lmao1903 | NBA

9 | 11 hours ago

Probably not exactly as good, at least Brunson, but I think seeing Luka work well with Kyrie and now Reaves, I think they would do really well, Jalen would be on a smaller deal as well. Jalen as a first option ball handling guard might not be as good but his offball scoring would be better and I think his life as a scorer would be a lot easier. Think how easy it would be for him if he didn’t have to bring the ball up all the time and get guys like Harper running at him before he crosses the half court every possesion. Using Luka’s gravity and his passes, life is good for a 2nd scorer

GalactusAteMyPlanet | Knicks

72 | 21 hours ago

Unlike Irving, Brunson would not had disappeared against the Celtics.

IMKudaimi123 | Bulls

10 | 11 hours ago

While true, luka and Brunson are both best off as the primary ball handlers. That’s why Kyrie fits better with Luka than Brunson.

Sweaty_Toe_799

5 | 7 hours ago

While true, that did not step the 2022 Mavs from overperforming and being dangerous in the playoffs without any real centers. the 2024 Mavs best quality outside of Luka/Kyrie were Lively and Gafford.

laz10 | DEN

4 | 6 hours ago

You think Kyrie is an off ball player?

I guess he’s off ball when he’s out getting DNPs

captain_ahabb | Lakers

2 | 4 hours ago

Celtics still win in five I think. That team was stacked.

HiddenCortex2 | Warriors

55 | 20 hours ago

Years ago, as less developed players, them as a duo got to a WCF and just because they lost doesn’t take away from the fact they upset a 1 seed that were dominant huge favorites. There’s so much permanent focus on marking the losers of any given series as choke artists and frauds that credit is rarely given for accomplishments as an underdog. Luka + Brunson would have been very good together - whether it would have been the optimal fit is one thing but they already proved in limited time together it would work.

Lmao1903 | NBA

11 | 11 hours ago

I think if Brunson improved more and more and became at least close to this version, they would win one together at least. Assuming Nico surrounds them with good players like the Knicks did. Because Kyrie worked just fine even though he shat the bed in the Finals, and then in this scenario Brunson would have been playing for a bargain for a couple more years so that introduces a lot of flexibility

eiliant | Thunder

7 | 9 hours ago

brunson would’ve been good but not this version without thibs seasons long training + so much time with the ball in his hands

S21500003 | Bucks

5 | 8 hours ago

Considering Nico did surround Luka with good players, I think he still would have if he kept Brunson. The issue with Nico was not the players he brought in, but the players he let go.

segson9

1 | 6 hours ago

Brunson improved really fast. One year before WCF he couldn’t stay on the floor in playoffs. The next year he outplayed Mitchell in the first round.

That Dallas team started playing well when they traded KP and that’s when Brunson became the second option. He was improving with Luka and I’m sure they’d be a contender for years if they keep them both. They just needed to add a starting center and more/better defenders around them.

PanthalassaRo | Knicks

1 | 3 hours ago

In Brunson’s defense it was against a very good healthy Clippers team with George and Kawhi on the perimeter.

But yeah that’s the reason the Mavs just didn’t want him to get the extension.

BZGames | Heat

1 | 4 hours ago

They got rid of Brunson only to bring in Kyrie, and they still made the finals. If they had Luka and Brunson they’d still have made that finals and would actually be more set up for success since Brunson is younger and currently better than Luka.

Could’ve even had the avenue of bringing in guys like Josh Hart, Mikal Bridges and the Big Ragu. They would’ve been title favorites this year.

Rizyli

21 | 21 hours ago

“Well, I barely watched anything,” Doncic said.

One of us

messigoat1337 | Germany

10 | 21 hours ago

he doesnt even watch nba when hes in the US and only watches euroleague lmao

sobanoodle-1 | Knicks

9 | 21 hours ago

Luka New York is always calling. We actually have a good GM.

Superlolz

6 | 14 hours ago

Knicks actually have the wings needed to help any guard that gets targeted on defense lol

Lmao1903 | NBA

4 | 11 hours ago

Well Mikal went for 5 picks and Luka for 1-2 and like Bagley at the end, so clearly a 1 for 1 swap is waiting

Hand_of_Doom1970

7 | 15 hours ago

Interesting that Luka doesn’t watch basketball

Automatic-Safe-9067 | Thunder

6 | 11 hours ago

He does, just not the nba, he watches euroleague

DrLivingdark

7 | 21 hours ago

Man what did they want him to say 😭

bmoreboy410 | Mavericks

1 | 18 hours ago

🤦🏽‍♂️

_Jetto_ | NBA

1 | 16 hours ago

Not surprised a majority of nba players don’t watch the finals. They prolly start off season workouts late June early July after 4th

CaesarWolny | Heat

1 | 10 hours ago

It would not. You cannot run 2 guards with no defence.

Brunson would need to come off the bench and you cannot pay for bench this much.

Mavs couldn’t keep him amyway but they should sign him and trade him later instead of letting him go.

SkinnyFVLatte

2 | 8 hours ago

downvotes are weird. this is extremely true. in the history of the nba as our favorite commentator becky hammon puts it - near impossible to win with small guards. the only examples are brunson, curry and IT. in the modern nba just 2. both had some of the best defensive wings in the league (OG, IGGY), and a 3&D focused SG (Hart, Klay) along with above average rim protection

look at some of the best guards in the last decade - the harden+, westbrook+, kyrie+, dbook+, dame+CJ, wall+beal combos - all failed. the 60 win hawks with korver and teague got swept in the ecf. mitchell and harden got swept in the ecf.

in fact you can go back to even the jordan years and look at every championship roster ever assembled. every roster started a guard that was either focused on defense or excelled at it. the closest to that not being the case was the 2023 denver nuggets playing what is albeit a still pretty lengthy 6’6 Christian Braun

itsahmemario | Knicks

1 | 5 hours ago

They would need to get an OG level wing for it to work and a good center. Assuming gafford and lively overlapped with Brunson, they’re halfway there. But a wing defender that good is probably the hard part

--solitude-- | Warriors

0 | 18 hours ago

They are great but defense was an issue.

jakekerr | Lakers

8 | 18 hours ago

Hunh? The Mavs had the #7 defense in the league in 2021-2022, and were only 2/10s of a point in defensive efficiency from top 5.

preddevils6 | Grizzlies

-4 | 17 hours ago

Yeah, but in the playoffs, you can’t hide both of them. Luka gets put in a grinder when he’s not surrounded by plus defenders.

itshorriblebeer

2 | 14 hours ago

Not sure why the downvote - they are both defensive liabilities even though they are great players.

njb2017 | Nets

-5 | 20 hours ago

I don’t buy it though. 2 very talented players on 1 team sounds great but these 2 are very ball dominant PGs. Luka does not move without the ball so what is he doing when brunson is initiating the offense? I know they played together but brunson was not brunson yet and his usage level was waaaay below what it is now. I think the question is more if they kept brunson and traded luka, what the mavs would be

njwineguy

0 | 15 hours ago

This is a very real issue.

prof-kaL | Heat

-13 | 21 hours ago

They would’ve been useless together. They’re both incredibly ball dominant players, who need the ball to be as good as they are. Neither is coming off the bench for the other.

DtownMaverick | Mavericks

5 | 21 hours ago

They could play together, we saw it their last season. It would have worked, both are fantastic shooters

pacifismisevil | Grizzlies

-5 | 18 hours ago

42% FG in the final is fantastic shooting? Brunson is extremely lucky the Spurs shit the bed. Luka is not a great shooter either, 44 FG% this season. The league average is 47%. Compare to SGA 55%, Jokic 57%, KD 52%. Luka is below the NBA average FT% as well. He’s a white elephant.

herseyhawkins33

6 | 17 hours ago

After a rough first 2 games of the finals brunson adjusted and put up 37.7 PPG on 48/52/85 splits over the last 3. So yeah he did just fine.

GoldDustKid-

3 | 20 hours ago

Brunson is actually really good at playing off ball, movement, relocation - Knicks just aren’t really built to support that skill. You can see it in some of the last season he was with mavs

swaktoonkenney | Knicks

1 | 15 hours ago

Yeah they are. You clearly didn’t watch the Karl Anthony Jokic games

GoldDustKid-

1 | 15 hours ago

Bro I’m a Knicks fan haha. I don’t mean never, I just mean they don’t have a high pressure ball handling lead guy aside from Brunson. KAT is incredible but he’s not bringing the ball up or running pick and rolls. Just was responding to the hypothetical about Luka and Brunson playing together now

swaktoonkenney | Knicks

1 | 14 hours ago

They did when they played Alvarado and Brunson together and it workdd

Justviewingposts69 | Knicks

3 | 20 hours ago

Brunson was playing off ball a ton these playoffs while KAT was the primary playmaker.

Luke and JB could have definitely worked in Dallas

Active-Restaurant-49

2 | 18 hours ago

Luka had played with Kyrie,LeBron,Reaves. Plus he and Brunson got to a conference finals

messigoat1337 | Germany

0 | 21 hours ago

i agree and i want to see luka with star 2way wing or big for once and not another guard

prof-kaL | Heat

-2 | 18 hours ago

This upset some people

SemenDemonsPenis | Supersonics

-21 | 20 hours ago

Brunson is a winner and luka is a loser. There’s a reason brunson left to have his own team after mavs disrespected him and luka ended up getting traded for being a fat mess.

juantawp

9 | 20 hours ago

Least effort rage bait

SemenDemonsPenis | Supersonics

-13 | 20 hours ago

How is this rage bait. Luka didn’t take his weight seriously and was always injured. They shipped his fat ass out and guess what he got injured again and missed the playoffs entirely. Brunson did something he will never do and thats win a championship and fmvp cause he isnt a fat mess

Anthropicana | Mavericks

5 | 20 hours ago

Good point, SemenDemonsPenis

team_sheikie | Spurs

2 | 18 hours ago

This is probably my favorite genre of reddit reply

[BasketNews] When asked about what could have been if he and Brunson had stayed on the same team, Doncic acknowledged that their duo would have been very good : “We have improved a lot every year. We are not the players we were before. It would have been very good, for sure,”