Newest Maverick is a painful reminder of Dallas' all-time worst free agency mistake

Entering day one of the 2025 NBA Draft, fans understood the Dallas Mavericks needed to add more youth around Cooper Flagg to have a building block for the future. While the Mavericks failed to trade back into the first or even second round of the draft, moments after the final pick was announced, Dallas quickly pounced on Ryan Nembhard.

By signing Nembhard to a two-way contract, the Mavericks avoided trading any substantial draft assets in a deal that would have seen Dallas trade back into the second round. Not only did Dallas get Nembhard on an extremely low-risk contract, but the hype surrounding the former Gonzaga Bulldog standout quickly began to rise, with many fans relating his playstyle to a young Jalen Brunson.

Brunson not only emerged as one of Dallas' most important figures alongside Luka Doncic very early in his sophomore and rookie seasons, but the failure to extend Brunson on a figure that made sense for both parties still haunts Mavericks fans to this day. Although it might be a long shot to call Nembhard a younger version of Brunson, the similarities are easy to see.

Mavericks can't afford to whiff on Nembhard like they did with Brunson

Before trading Doncic away this past season, one of the most traumatic things every Maverick fan went through was the 2022 summer when the Mavericks allowed Brunson to walk in free agency. Dallas had just made the Western Conference Finals earlier that year, and they lost their star point guard for nothing. While multiple events led to Brunson eventually leaving Dallas, the bottom line was that Mark Cuban and the Mavericks failed to offer Brunson the contract extension that he was worth during the regular season, which would eventually lead him to sign with the New York Knicks.

Coming off a career-best season at the time and helping the Mavericks reach the Western Conference Finals for the first time since the 2011 title run, extending Brunson should have been priority No.1 and 2 for the Mavericks. In hindsight, Brunson's departure was the best move for his career, as he has turned into one of the league's best guards, and after three long seasons, the Mavericks finally have a shot at redemption.

Since signing Nembhard and making an instant splash in his first Summer League game, fans understood that Nembhard was going to be a piece to help build around Flagg's future. Not only was Nembhard dishing passes to players he had never played with before, but the connection between him and Flagg was easy to see from the opening tip.

In addition to Nembhard's impressive offensive playmaking, he was also able to score the ball at will at times in Las Vegas. As painful as it may seem to many fans, the reality of the situation is, Nembhard draws many similarities to Brunson from his early career.

Not only did both players have illustrious collegiate careers, with Brunson helping Villanova win two national titles and Nembhard leading the entire nation in assists as a senior, but Nembhard plays eerily similar to how Brunson did during his rookie season.

Now, moving forward, assuming Nembhard can be the player Brunson was in his first few seasons with the Mavericks, Nico Harrison and the front office can't afford to fumble the bag once again with an undersized elite guard. While there is obviously an uphill battle for Nembhard before he can be labeled as good as Brunson was in his time with the Mavericks, his role is already easy to see this coming season.

The Mavericks are not only in need of secondary playmaking off the bench, but Nembhard's ability to playmake could become an instant contribution in Jason Kidd's offense. The Mavericks will have a few seasons before they can even think about giving Nembhard a luxurious contract, but assuming Nembhard is better than expected, then the Mavericks need to be ready to give Nembhard a full multi-year contract.