but if they had signed Brunson, they would at least had him and Luka to build around for the next 3 or so seasons, regardless of how this season went. What foundation do they have to build around now outside of Luka?

That Mavs front office screwed up majorly. Dunno if Cuban is the sole decision maker in that regard, but they aren't the sharpest knives in the shed. Competition being what it is in the West is only going to make it even harder for the Mavs to improve I would imagine.

I'm very curious how they're going to salvage this Kyrie situation, assuming they aren't going to resign him.