NEW YORK — The New York Knicks will lose a draft pick for getting started too soon with their Jalen Brunson pursuit.
The NBA penalized the Knicks a second-round selection in the 2025 draft on Wednesday after finding that the Knicks began free-agency discussions involving Brunson before the date when they were allowed.
Brunson was the Knicks’ big acquisition in the summer — a four-year, $104 million deal — and the point guard has been terrific, leading them to an eight-game winning streak that is the longest current one in the league.
The Knicks were the favorites to land the New Jersey native all along if he decided to leave the Dallas Mavericks. The Knicks had hired his father, Rick, as an assistant coach under Tom Thibodeau. Rick Brunson had played for the Knicks and his agent was Leon Rose, who is now the Knicks president.
Yet the NBA found after an investigation that the Knicks went even further to increase their advantage by taking part in discussions involving Jalen Brunson before free agency opened on June 30. The league said the Knicks cooperated with the investigation.
Brunson is averaging 20.8 points and 6.2 assists, by far the best of his five-year career.
MAVERICKS: Dallas Coach Jason Kidd was fined $25,000 for coming onto the court to confront a referee and directing inappropriate language toward him during a loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, the NBA announced Wednesday.
Kidd was assessed two technical fouls and was ejected late in the third quarter of the Mavericks’ 116-106 loss Monday when his short-handed team came unglued.
Dallas star Luca Doncic, the league’s second-leading scorer, was whistled for consecutive technicals after teammate Randy Bullock was called for a foul on Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards. Doncic was ejected, looked legitimately confused by the punishment and had to be pointed toward the tunnel to exit the court.
Then Kidd lost it and received the same fate. He had to be restrained by an assistant as he went after referee Nick Buchert with some animated feedback.
HAWKS: Atlanta President Travis Schlenk is stepping down and moving into an advisory position, the team said Wednesday, while General Manager Landry Fields will assume control of daily operations.
The move comes after Fields’ promotion to general manager earlier this year. Schlenk previously was general manager and still retained the final say on player personnel decisions before Wednesday’s announcement by the team.
Schlenk, who will report to principal owner Tony Ressler in his new role, was hired in May 2017 and took the lead in rebuilding a team which won only 24 games in the 2017-18 season.
The Hawks advanced to the Eastern Conference finals in 2021 but have struggled to repeat that success; they finished 43-39 last season and were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs and are currently 16-15 and seventh in the Eastern Conference this season.
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