While NBA fans waited for word on a possible Anthony Davis trade, the Knicks came out of nowhere on Thursday to shake up the trade market by sending potential star Kristaps Porzingis to the Mavericks in a blockbuster deal that involved seven players and a pair of draft picks.
We’ve got plenty of notes and reactions related to that trade to round up this morning, so let’s dive right in, separating them by team…
Knicks notes:
- An “acrimonious divorce” between the Knicks and Porzingis has seemed inevitable since he blew off his exit meeting with the franchise two years ago, writes Frank Isola of The Athletic. Isola’s look at the situation includes a handful of other interesting details, including the fact that the Knicks had Thursday’s trade lined up for “a couple of days.” Isola also hears from a source that Porzingis’ camp had begun to wonder if the Knicks would be comfortable with a European as their franchise player.
- The meeting that took place on Thursday between Knicks management and Porzingis – as well as his brother Janis – took less than five minutes, reports Ian Begley of ESPN.com. “When the meeting occurred this morning, we’d already been having many conversations with a number of teams,” GM Scott Perry said on Thursday. “So we decided to act upon one.”
- According to Sam Amick of The Athletic, executives around the NBA were left with the same impression after Thursday’s trade: Knicks management must be confident that the team can land Kevin Durant this summer. Amick adds that some rival executives have indicated that Knicks officials themselves have been conveying “a very high level of optimism” regarding 2019 free agency.
- Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News examines some of the other top-tier free agent targets the Knicks will now be targeting this summer besides Durant.
- Porzingis issued a cryptic message on Instagram on Thursday, writing “The truth will come out :)” (Twitter link via JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors). He later deleted the post, but it seems he may not have loved Knicks management characterizing Thursday’s move as their reaction to a “trade request.”
Mavericks notes:
- The Mavericks aren’t sure when Porzingis, who is still recovering from his ACL tear, will be able to return to action, but they’re not too concerned about that, tweets Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com. The club made the deal with an eye toward the next 5-10 years, not just 2018/19.
- Luka Doncic was enthusiastic about the Mavericks’ acquisition of Porzingis, as Dan Murphy of ESPN.com relays. “He’s such an amazing player, so this could be a good thing,” Doncic said. “He’s big, he can shoot, he can rebound, he can do a lot of things. I think he can be one of the best players in this league.”
- Longtime Mavs franchise player Dirk Nowitzki also liked the move, calling Porzingis “a perfect fit for the new NBA,” according to Murphy. “If you have a chance to add a franchise-caliber player like Porzingis you’ve just gotta go for it,” Nowitzki said. “… He’s mobile enough to play the four. He can be a spread five. He can move, block shots, post. Before he got hurt he played a great all-around game. He’s got the work ethic to be great. He’s a good dude.”
- While the Mavs are adding a potential star, the deal cost the team multiple players who are well-liked in the locker room, according to Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News, who explores how Dallas’ veterans reacted to news of the trade. “It’s tough,” Devin Harris said. “The human emotion part of it, losing your teammates, and the shock of it, we all felt it this afternoon. We’ve still got a job to do. I thought the guys did a good job of coming out and still trying to win (Thursday’s) game.”
So who will the Knicks actually sign this summer?
Maybe Kemba? I think there’s a better chance they miss out on all the stars, and end up overpaying a bunch of free agents.
But don’t worry, Knicks fans! They’ll be able to offload those bad contracts in a couple of years by trading away whoever they take with their 2019 1st round pick!
Their dream scenario is to get the #1 pick and then sign Durant and/or Kyrie.
Correct.
And my dream scenario is to just win the lottery.
“Porzingis’ camp had begun to wonder if the Knicks would be comfortable with a European as their franchise player”
What the hell? That is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard
Heard the same thing, but substitute “Fizdale” for the Knicks, and insert the word “white” before European. Didn’t want to be the first one to post it. FWIW, I took it to be less about ethnicity or race, then perceptions of skill set and demeanor and the fit in Fiz World. He could fit well, but his skills wouldn’t be emphasized like say they will in Dallas.
KP is right. The truth will eventually come out.
Correct !
What is his history with white players that makes you think this?
if you really are asking and will acknowledge it.
you can look at how he handled
Gasol
Kanter
how he co conspired with LBJ to get Spo fired
to name a few things its not really a WHITE thing its more of he thinks if you don’t have African American in your history you cant “BALL” or coach issue.
sorry meant to put an *try* to get spo fired.
Think what? I specifically said I did NOT take any of what I was told as suggesting Fiz doesn’t like white players. Just that if KP’s camp got the “impression” it did, then they weren’t alone.
I touched on it before about Fitzdale.
and of course I was attacked for it but that’s fine this is what America is now.Its lit for McCoy to call Chip Kelly a racist and its woke and one hunnnid for minority government officials to call trump a grand wizard of the KKK.
Sounds to me like management got tired of the KP camp questioning their strategy and displaying their displeasure from a player who hasn’t done crap and is sitting on the sidelines. His resume isn’t good enough yet to be making demands. Bye Felicia.
His resume is three years under a dumpster fire for a franchise. It got boosted by getting traded to anywhere lol.
lol, you lost me at “Knicks management”, hahahahahahahahah
exactly
I mean he improved as a player every year getting better at spreading the floor by adding the 3. The dude would be averaging 25/10 if he was playing. Let’s not pretend Porzingis isn’t good.
Cuban now has a connection with Phil Jackson; whether he wishes to admit it or not
So are we in agreement – Knicks let DSJ ball out the rest of the year, pump up his value and ship him to…. Suns or Magic?
Realistically – Durant & Klay stay w/ GSW. Kemba takes the money & stays in Charlotte.
Kawhi, Kyrie, Butler, Boogie (maybe) are the only remaining Max Worthy players.
Harris & Middleton will most likely get near max. If they land Zion, they won’t pay up for Randle or Mirotic. Gasol is old. Vucevic would be interesting depending on the price.
None of the RFAs outside of KP would be someone to max out. Brogdon, Rozier, and Russell are the best RFAs and Brogdon is the best of that bunch. Best shooter, most versatile.
Kryie + Jimmy feels like the most likely scenario.
They will have ~40M in cap allocations if they keep Trier, Ntilikina, Dotson, and Thomas (1M). They’d only save about 2-3M overall if they got rid of them based on cap holds.
No matter what they do, really only enough for 2 max level players.
I don’t know whether to be happy for KP because he gets out of a three-ring excrementshow of an organization, or to be happy for the Knicks that they don’t have a guy with more MRIs than minutes played the last two seasons complaining about the Knicks not winning because they need a power forward.
It’d be different if he was actually the Latvian LeBron he fancies himself to be. Whining from the hot tub about the team’s strategy is another thing.
I thought he wanted to play PF. And have them get a bruising Center. A la Dirk & Chandler.
This would be correct. Full time PF, part time C. AD feels the same, and a big part of why Boogie being with Pels was important to him. But I don’t think the AD flirting by the Knicks played into this. Seems like Fiz didn’t think he was a guy to feature. It will come out eventually.
How is it dumb? The guy doesn’t want to play in NY. He’s coming off a serious injury. NY gets two first round picks and clears up a bunch of salary cap. Oh yes and they get the PG they should have drafted in the first place. it’s about time they think strategically!
If the Knicks get a top 2 pick, Durant and perhaps Kylie, that team jumps to one of the best if not the best in the East
We don’t need any Jenner involvement.
ahahahah true
Knicks are a dumpster fire and who beside some greedy idiot “ insert Melo here” would want to go play for them? Some things never change
To me they should ship some of the guys they got. You do realize they improved their team this year by doing this trade.. they may have traded themselves out of the highest chance at that #1 pick. It’s the Knicks.. they rarely, if ever, get the free agents they want. Perry was the one to draft Durant so there is that but at 30 years old, you have to wonder if he is willing to build a team from scratch. If they get him and Kyrie and a top 3 pick and ship Smith Jr (since he won’t be playing the one if Kyrie is there and that was his problem in Dallas with Doncic) that is their best scenario. This is still an organization ran by Dolan so it’s hard to believe that the gamble will pay off. I understand that Porz kinda forced their hand by not wanting to be there but besides the market and the player popular Fizdale, it’s hard to convince any star that this is the place to come and win. Just my opinion.
Knicks fans are like, Never liked Porzingus anyway.