Mark Cuban’s Unflattering Scouting Report on Knicks’ Jalen Brunson

Mark Cuban found the selection of future New York Knicks to be a weighty decision.

Cuban, the minority owner of the Dallas Mavericks, recalled Brunson’s draft process while appearing on the point guard’s “Roommates Show.” That allowed the point guard to address his North Texas tenure with his former boss, notably confronting Cuban about his invoking of his father Rick and godfather Leon Rose during his fateful free agency in 2022.

Brunson’s co-host Josh Hart was eager to know about Brunson’s past, asking how the Mavericks came to draft “the little fat-headed kid from Villanova.” Cuban admitted that the Mavericks’ official scouting report wasn’t far off from Hart’s humorous assesment.

“We traded up to get Luka (Doncic) and we get [to] the number 31 (pick),” Cuban recalled. “All the scouts were like, ‘JB, JB, JB, JB. He’s a winner, yada yada. (He was a) little bit chubby, not quite as fast, not super athletic, but he’s a winner, he’s a champion. You can’t put a value on that. That’s our guy.'”

Dallas eventually landed Brunson, who took Cuban’s blunt assessment in stride thanks to Hart’s prompting, with the 33rd overall pick. While it took a while for Brunson to establish himself as a lasting NBA contributor, a breakout performance during the 2022 postseason made him one of the most sought-after backcourt free agents in the ensuing summer.

The Knicks, of course, won those sweepstakes, inking Brunson to a four-year deal worth $104 million. Cuban, frequently voicing his displeasure over Brunson’s family ties, eventually landed an NBA investigation that charged the Knicks with the loss of a 2025 second-round pick.

Brunson’s continued breakout has ensured that the Knicks are more than comfortable with such a penalty, as the point guard has propelled them back to the realm of Association relevancy and the hype is louder than ever now that he’s paired with three other Villanova alumni in Hart, Mikal Bridges, and Donte DiVincenzo.

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