The Mavs actually had Brunson and Dinwiddie, but let’s just leave it at Brunson for the sake of argument. The Mavs had what now appears to be a really good core around Luka a few years ago, but I guess they didn’t want to pay Brunson. After a series of trades, they ended up with Kyrie Irving.
The team looks good right now and Kyrie looks like he has accepted being Robin. Come playoff time, having a guy like Kyrie is going to be very valuable. He has experience and can take over games, especially when doncic is cold.
On the other hand, Brunson has been playing really well and looks good leading the Knicks offense alongside a cold-shooting Julius randle. I’m not sure that Brunson would be content ball watching on the Mavs and waiting for his turn like he would be on the Mavs.
My main argument for Brunson is that he is on his way up while Kyrie is on his way down. Kyrie, on the other hand, has been one of the best iso scorers in the league for a decade and seems to have accepted a backseat role.
Who would the Mavs rather have?
Kyrie because it led directly to Lively. We lost Brunson but it forced us to trade for a better player and we got an impact center because roster/chemistry issues.
So thank you JB!!! And yes Kyrie is better. Our floor is potentially slightly lower but our ceiling is way higher.
With JB and Luka we would’ve made the playoffs, gotten eliminated in the 2nd round, no draft pick and been asset strapped.
This is the best situation the Mavs have been in in a long time. Just facts. Again, thank you JB. Enjoy mediocrity in NY!!
LMAO. Deliberately tanking for that pick for a an average center really got ya’ll thanking Kyrie. See you in the play-ins when both Luka and Kyrie goes down
Lol
You sound like you’re trying to convince yourself of something.
Pretty sad. Lol
Brunson.
If, and it’s a pretty big if, Kyrie is locked TF in for the playoffs and accepts the No.2 role, there’s nothing stopping the Mavs (im delusional).
God, this sub is insane. “If all of these imaginary things were true, then Kyrie for sure” is not a real answer
At least we don’t have to deal with Scoot Henderbum 🙏
Kyrie is a lovely player. Brunson looks like a fish, flops like a fish out of water and the only reason Knicks have a winning record is because the refs allow them to foul and swallow their whistles.
Just saying. Kyrie hasn’t had a playoff run like Brunson had last season since he was 24 in Cleveland. Brunson had more 30 point playoff games last season than Kyrie had in the last 3 playoff runs.
Don’t know what Kyrie has shown in the last 7 years can be reliable in the playoffs. It’s all hypothetical
Yes. With the ball in his hands. The question was who did the mavs better, and KAI may be the better off ball player.
Kyrie and it’s not close.
I’d rather have Brunson because he’s younger (meaning he lines up with Luka a bit more if you re-sign him), seems to be less injury prone, and is on a smaller contract. Also, he hasn’t shown himself to be a possible problem in the locker room like Kyrie has the potential to be.
As for current level of play, Kyrie is probably a bit better, but I’m a little suspicious that he might fall of earlier than people think. He’s already not the quickest guy in the league, and small, score first, guards who are poor on defense and tend to get injured often fall off fast.
I think Kyrie fits really well with Luka, also in the past with LeBron and Harden (for their few games) he’s had great synergy and they play similar to Luka.
If Kyrie can stay healthy and find his rhythm I take him over Brunson easily.
Kyrie 10/10
I second this.
If you can convince Kyrie to lay off all the off-court bullshit, be unselfish and play for the team, and just stfu and play ball, it’s Kyrie by a landslide.
But that if is the size of Siberia.
He’s checked all those boxes so far in Dallas.
Kidd gets absolutely hated on in /r/mavericks, but in Dallas he has been the very definition of a player’s coach. Everyone loves him, and finds him relatable and the team culture has always been good under him, even if the team hasn’t been that good. Kyrie has stated repeatedly he likes playing under Kidd, even joking with a smile on his face about having practices on days he wishes they had off.
Which is a long way of saying that Kyrie seems very comfortable in Dallas (he also has a seemingly pleasant relationship with the local media), with his role next to Luka and as a veteran, and with the Mavs org.
Yeah I don’t understand why Kidd got so much hate last season. Not his fault the FO let Brunson walk for nothing and they had to trade whatever defense they had left for Kyrie, on top of the fact that their best big man was Dwight Powell.
Now look, they made moves to improve the team around Luka and Kyrie and it’s paying off so far
He’s literally doing all that right now.
Just wait. Let’s get one entire full season of normalcy from Kyrie: October through playoffs, and then we can start giving him the benefit of the doubt
It’s November 18th.
Back to the circle jerk you go.
Kyrie is arguably the best point guard in the league right now
There’s plenty - PLENTY!!! - of ammo to hate on World B. Flat, but there’s no way you even tried to leave a serious comment there.
He’s not even the best PG on his OWN TEAM.
I would rather have Brunson, Finney-Smith, Dinwiddie, and picks than Kyrie.
Technically it’s Kyrie + Lively because losing our depth at the deadline also helped us tank to keep our pick. I’d much rather have our rookie center (who’s been completely AWESOME so far) than the old core back which already reached its ceiling in 2022.
Brunson definitely hadn’t yet reached his ceiling in 2022. Obviously he might not have exploded in Dallas like in NY but who knows how good the 2023 Mavs with NY Brunson could have been.
We’re doing that weird thing right now.
Lively has been very decent so far.
He’s 19!!! There’s going to be a lot of poor performances and return to the mean coming up.
Not hating on him. He’s a great prospect.
Just the reality of sports.
Kyrie in a Cleveland type role with no drama is probably the ideal 2nd option. Add in the other pieces the mavs have and it’s much better than the mavs with brunson
You’re also forgetting the Assets the Mav’s used to get Kyrie West.
Mav’s could have had Brunson on a significantly cheaper deal while still having Dinwiddie, DFS, their Unprotected 2029 1st and 2-2nd’s to use on another Trade.
So it’s Kyrie West vs Brunson, Dinwiddie, DFS, an Unprotected 2029 1st and 2-2nd’s.
No that’s not the question. The question is which player would you rather have on that team. Period.
I’d still rather have current Brunson on his contract and age than current Kyrie. More upside all around.
As a Mavs fan and someone who watched all those old Cleveland runs (2016 Kyrie is about as good as it gets). I think Brunson is the better long term choice for best success.
However I’m really hoping Kyrie can go back in time and have a 2016 type year and the Mavs go on a run.
Kyrie is the ideal guy next to Luka. Brunson is good, and might be a better first option guy, but I don’t think he is good enough to be the second best guy and win a chip. We already know Kyrie can do it. He just needs to not be dramatic and stay healthy. Couple of big “ifs” for sure. Kyrie also plays sneaky good defence when it’s a big game or in the playoffs.
Kyrie is so good next to a guy like Luka because he can play so well with minimal touches. He can dance better than anyone, but he is also super efficient off ball.