During an unscheduled press conference Wednesday night, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban blamed Jalen Brunson’s father for the point guard’s departure from Dallas and said the franchise’s top priority going into the summer break would be to renew Kyrie’s contract. Irving, despite the uninspiring results from the trade that brought the All-Star to Dallas.
Cuban has strongly denied that Brunson was willing to sign a five-year, $56 million extension with the Mavs, as claimed by his father Rick, and insisted that the Mavs did not have an opportunity to negotiate before Brunson signed. a five-year, $104 million contract with the New York Knicks during free agency.
Cuban read text messages sent by Mavs general manager Nico Harrison and Brunson’s agent Aaron Mintz alleging that Rick Brunson indicated that Jalen expected to receive a contract with wages ranging from 18-23 million dollars a year.
Cuban said he doesn’t know if the Mavs can be surpassed by other teams in the race for Irving in free agency, but said his goal is to win the championship.