From his days as the Mavericks coach, Rick Carlisle has loved to build his plans around a guard. It began with Jason Kidd, and the torch is now carried on by Tyrese Haliburton. Under the head coach’s schemes, the Pacers have made their second-straight conference Finals. The Knicks and Pacers share a deep history. But in this series, there’s more to it than what meets the eye.

Notably. Carlisle believed in Haliburton ever since he was a rookie in 2020. The Mavericks were fond of his talents, viewing him as the best player available in the draft. Carlislie’s vision was to have Doncic and Haliburton form the future backcourt in Dallas.

And the Mavs were desperate to meet his demands.

At the time, Jalen Brunson was still an untested prospect inside the Mavericks’ system. So the now Pacers coach didn’t hesitate in choosing between him and Hali. “The Mavericks tried to trade Brunson and a couple of picks to get Halliburton in that draft. Rick has always, always, always coveted Halliburton,” Tim MacMahon revealed on Hoop Collective.

The Mavericks aimed to move their way up the draft by offering Brunson as the reward.  At that time, no team accepted their proposal. However, in the end, Carlisle found the guard he always wanted to build around.

Both Tyrese Haliburton and Jalen Brunson have burst into franchise cornerstones in these years. The Knicks’ star guard has earned the nickname ‘Captain’ for his sacrifices. On the other hand, with Carlisle’s well-engineered system, Haliburton has outgrown the ‘overrated’ claim set on him by his peers.

As central figures of their respective teams, there’s already a tantalizing rivalry between Brunson and Haliburton. But how does the Knicks superstar react to Carlisle’s past actions?

Is Jalen Brunson plotting revenge for disrespect?

MacMahon sees the Brunson-Carlisle past as a “fascinating little subplot” brewing during this series. After all, what Brunson faced was rejection from his former head coach. It carried over to the point that the 28-year-old needed a breathtaking postseason run with the Mavericks to even gain recognition.

But he settled that rift by becoming the star in a big market team like the Knicks. However, there’s still revenge to be taken from Rick Carlisle. MacMahon revealed how the Pacers coach and the Mavs “were wrong about Brunson. Nobody expected Brunson to become this”.

He titles it as a matchup between “the superstar point guard that Rick Carlisle didn’t believe in against the one that he has believed in,”. And somehow, the basketball gods and fate seem to repeatedly put these two against one another.

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Inadvertently so, Brunson and Tyrese Haliburton have often found themselves pitted against one another. Last season, they met in the second round of the playoffs. Even the WWE decided to build on the developing storyline between them. And now, time has put them against one another yet again. Only this time, the price is far higher. Both teams have longed to win an NBA title.

Despite how Carlisle may have viewed him, though, Brunson “doesn’t want to deal with this like revenge versus Rick,” per MacMahon. But it’s bound to become a storyline. The two franchises have a history, and so do the players involved. There’s more at stake than just glory in this matchup. Who do you expect to win? Let us know what you feel in the comments.