Trey Burke Sees More Minutes Than Jalen Brunson At Point Guard

Trey Burke was not even on a roster last year after getting waived by the Philadelphia 76ers early in the season, but when Jalen Brunson went down with an injury that kept him out of the NBA bubble, the Mavericks signed Burke to fill his role and he became the Mavericks third best scorer in the playoffs.

In the Mavericks’ 6 playoffs games against the Clippers, Trey Burke averaged 12.3 points and shot 50.8% from the floor, 47.1% from three-point range. Over the course of his 7-years in the NBA, Trey Burke has always been a threat on the perimeter and his playmaking abilities should give the Mavericks a point guard they can rely on.

Jalen Brunson has always been a solid player and in his first two seasons in the league, has shown promise to be a reliable point guard moving forward for the Mavs, but his shoulder injury last year may cause his minutes to decrease in favor of Trey Burke. It will be hard to keep a guy like Burke off the court, who had such an impact for this team down the stretch last season.

While Brunson will not be the sole backup point guard for this team anymore, his base case scenario is splitting time with Burke early on and not surrendering all of his minutes. The two players could work really well together on the court and given both of their abilities to score, could give the Mavs reliable scoring options in the second-unit. 

Given the fact that Trey Burke is an overall more aggressive player and better scorer, he may get the nod over Jalen Brunson in tight games and come time for the playoffs.