With Luka Doncic missing the first three games of the series and playing with an injury, the Dallas Mavericks still eliminated the Utah Jazz 4-2 to reach the Western Conference semifinals, which was still unexpected by some people. You know, although it has only reached the second round now, it is not easy for the Lone Ranger, after all, since winning the first championship in team history in 2011, the Lone Ranger has never broken through the first round.
It stands to reason that in the first year of the change of coaching staff and management, such good results can be achieved, and the Lone Rangers should be quite happy, and then they have no pressure, and every extra win is earned. However, the Lone Ranger now also has happy troubles, that is, the first double guard Jaylen Brunson's first round of state is brave, although it is to help the Lone Ranger laugh to the end, but now Jaylen Brunson's market has also suddenly improved, and there is a risk of losing him this summer.
In fact, like Luka Doncic, Jaylen Brunson also entered the league in 2018, because he was the third player to be selected in the second round, and often as a surprise soldier, Lone Ranger fans also ridiculed him as the real probing flower of that year's draft. Jaylen Brunson is a native of basketball school Villanova University's Wildcats and has twice led this old-school team to the NCAA Championship. However, because he was an older rookie and was already 22 years old at the time, Jaylen Brunson was not selected by the Lone Ranger until the second round, and the pick was far lower than his college teammates Mikael Bridges and Donte DiVinchenzo.
When he first joined the Lone Ranger, because there were already two high-ranking defenders in the team, Luka Doncic and Dennis Smith, Jaylen Brunson could only play as a substitute, averaging 9.3 points, 2.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game in his rookie season. Later Dennis Smith was sent away, Jaylen Brunson did get more playing time and performance opportunities, especially in the middle of the 19-20 season Luka Doncic was absent, Jaylen Brunson repeatedly became a surprise soldier, but unfortunately in the game against the Atlanta Hawks, Jaylen Brunson was injured in the collision with opposing center Dwyane Dwayne Dedmund, the season was reimbursed early, regrettably missed that year's playoff journey.
After the return of Jaylen Brunson last season, he gradually got on the right track, and the number of times he entered the starting lineup increased, last season Jaylen Brunson averaged 12.6 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game, and the shooting rate was as high as 52%, and the three-point shooting rate was more than 40%, which showed that his ability to seize opportunities was very strong. However, in the playoffs, Jaylen Brunson's performance is more average, he can only average 8 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game, regardless of data or on-court efficiency, there is a significant gap compared with the regular season. It is no wonder, after all, Jaylen Brunson has only played the playoffs for the first time, it is normal not to adapt to the confrontation and defensive intensity, and it is easy to appear nervous, and it has encountered the Clippers with many defensive resources, so Jaylen Brunson is limited. On the Lone Ranger side, although Luka Doncic is like a god, due to the lack of strength of his teammates, the Lone Ranger still lost to the Clippers for two consecutive years to stop the first round.
Last offseason, the Lone Rangers failed to agree with Jaylen Brunson in the contract renewal negotiations, and they didn't expect Jaylen Brunson to play so well this season. In the regular season, Jaylen Brunson averaged 16.3 points, 3.9 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 0.8 steals per game, a number of statistics that set a career high. I thought that in the playoffs, the confrontation and defense would be more intense, and without Luka Doncic, Jaylen Brunson would be in a struggle. Unexpectedly, he was full of fire in the first three games, and in the second game, he scored 41 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists to help the Lone Ranger equalize on aggregate. Jaylen Brunson scored 31 points and five assists in game three to give the Lone Ranger a lead in the series. After Luka Doncic returned, Jaylen Brunson's data declined slightly, but in this series he averaged 27.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4 assists per game, and shot nearly 50% of the shots, at least 23 points in each game, the overall performance appeared to be unusually stable, in this case Jaylen Brunson has almost locked in a long-term contract with an annual salary of more than $20 million, how high it depends on his own ideas and the negotiation between the agent and the team.
And the lone ranger who should have been happy with the eyebrows is now a bit passive. Because when he first signed with Jaylen Brunson, the lone ranger had a flaw, usually after the rookie's first contract expires, if the team is optimistic, it can make a qualification offer for the rookie, making him a restricted free agent, even if other teams offer high prices, as long as they match the same offer, they can forcibly leave the players. However, the Lone Rangers made a fatal mistake, they actually made Jaylen Brunson a full free agent, if the latter did not play, it would not have much impact, but now that Jaylen Brunson's market is rising, the Lone Ranger has almost no advantage. If they don't give Jaylen Brunson a big contract, the latter will almost certainly choose to leave; if Jaylen Brunson is given a big contract, but there are other teams bidding, Jaylen Brunson feels that the status is higher, and it is still possible to leave Dallas; even if jaylen Brunson is left with a high salary, the Lone Ranger will need to pay the luxury tax, but there is no room for reinforcement, this problem really has to give the Lone Ranger management a headache for a long time.