Kristaps Porzingis spent much of the summer in Spain rehabbing as he recovers from a torn ACL, but he has remained in close contact with the Knicks.
“KP is engaged — we’re in a good place with him,” team president Steve Mills said of the former No. 4 overall pick during a recent “town hall” forum with season-ticket holders (via Marc Berman of The New York Post).
Mills was asked if having Porzingis sit out for the entire season was the best course of action for the team to take with its top player.
“Our goal is not to do anything that jeopardizes KP’s future as being one of the foundational pieces of this team,” Mills said. “…. We’ll have some medical evaluations of him this week, and we’ll start to develop [what] the right plan is for him, his plan to come back. But we’re not going to do anything that jeopardizes the future of this franchise. We’re going to be consistent and stay true to that.”
The Knicks can offer Porzingis an extension worth approximately $158MM over five years prior to the start of the 2018/19 season. It’s unlikely he’ll receive such as offer, as the team plans to preserve its cap space in hopes of luring at least one max player. Kyrie Irving, Jimmy Butler, and Kemba Walker are among the players who will be unrestricted free agents after the season.
New York will be able to go over the cap to sign Porzingis to a new deal next summer.
This is a lost year for the Knicks (hopefully the last one for a while), don’t rush him back, have him sit the season if necessary.
Agreed. Collect the top five pick, trade off some players like Lee and/or Hardaway for picks at the trade deadline and get to a place where two max contracts are possible.
As a kid that was born on Long Island to the sounds of “Smith. Smith again. Smith a third time” , I’d really like the Knicks to get this right. It looks like Frank was a bust pick but KP and Kyrie is a nice core
Tried to read the article, but it seems proof reading was optional today.
LOL, Yes, Crouse opted out of the proof reading portion of his article!
I really worry that KP6 will never be the same player, traditionally guys that tall don’t recover well from major surgery/injuries, hopefully I am wrong, but maybe New York needs to start thinking about a future were KP6 is not a cornerstone of the franchise.
Zinger can still play center well even if he’s less mobile. It’s probably inevitable anyway.
It makes sense to wait to max him but that is also likely.
Maxing him ala Alan Houston is what has all of us Knicks fans afraid. 5 more years of “Damn, we’re still paying him?” Fingers crossed and I hope for a well recovery for KP.