Jalen Brunson’s father, Rick Brunson, finalizing contract to become Knicks assistant, per report

According to Ian Begley of SNY, Rick Brunson is going to be an assistant coach with the New York Knicks.

Hiring Brunson to fill the void left by Payne gives the Knicks what should be a seamless transition on the bench; Brunson has a deep history with both Thibodeau and the organization and has vast experience in player development.

Brunson was also one of the first clients of team president Leon Rose when Rose was a player agent at CAA.

As to why we’re sharing a New York Knicks related story on a Dallas Mavericks website... well Rich Brunson is the father to Jalen Brunson, a Dallas Mavericks player and free agent whom the Knicks have coveted for sometime.

Earlier this month, Rick Brunson had this to say about Jalen: “We’ve got to figure out if Dallas wants him. Not words. Ain’t no discount. So don’t put it on us. Don’t tell me you love me. Show me.”

Mark Cuban recently told Marc Stein on live television that he believes Brunson wants to stay. “We can pay him more than anybody,” Cuban said, “and I think he wants to stay and that’s most important.”

It’s an interesting development to say the least. The Knicks would have to shed salary at this point to even be able to sign Jalen Brunson and that doesn’t consider whether Brunson would want to play for his father again, who trained his son throughout his childhood. At the moment, the feeling around the league is that Jalen Brunson will re-sign in Dallas according to Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer.

At least we only have five or so more weeks of speculation on this subject!