Mavericks big man Kristaps Porzingis, who underwent surgery last month to repair the meniscus in his right knee, won’t be ready for the start of the 2020/21 season, president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson said today during an appearance on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas.
“We’re going to make sure that that’s 100 percent before we put him out there, so that’s going to be into the season before we are able to have him join us,” Nelson said, per Tim MacMahon of ESPN.
Nelson told ESPN that the Mavs are targeting January 1 as the date when Porzingis would be cleared to begin on-court activities. The 25-year-old will need some time to get up to speed after resuming basketball activities, so he may end up missing the first few weeks of the shortened season.
Porzingis suffered his knee injury in Game 1 of this year’s playoffs against the Clippers, though he was able to play two more games after that and the team didn’t announce the diagnosis of a torn meniscus until after Game 5.
Health problems have been an issue for Porzingis throughout his NBA career — he has missed double-digit games in each of his five professional seasons and was sidelined for the entire 2018/19 season due to a torn ACL. When he has been on the court, Porzingis has been a standout contributor for the Knicks and Mavs. In his first full season in Dallas in 2019/20, he averaged 20.4 PPG, 9.5 RPG, and 2.0 BPG in 57 games (31.8 MPG).
Meanwhile, Nelson also addressed the health of Dallas’ other recovering big man during today’s radio appearance, telling 105.3 The Fan that Dwight Powell is expected to be able to participate at least in a limited capacity when training camp begins, as MacMahon relays.
“We’re not going to rush, we’re going to do it the right way, but we’re pretty optimistic that he’ll be able to join us out of the gates,” Nelson said of Powell, who is returning from a torn Achilles.
There are many here. Who talked smack about Knicks moving KP. Even about fact that we said he was prone to injury. Well ……..
I don’t wish injury on any athlete. But I always said. KP needs to add weight and strength. So he can play center. Cause running around and defending 4s. Is only going to put more stress on his joints. He is not Dirk. He is a center who can shoot. And you have to find a way to keep him healthy. Otherwise he is not worth his contract. He’s going to not play for most of the length of his contract. That is why I’m glad he is gone. He thought he could hold out on us. NY made him. It’s unfortunate but it seems he can’t find his position. Maybe now the haters understand why we traded him.
He can’t possibly end up with a worse NBA career than Linsanity had.
He’ll possibly hurt whatever team he is on more than Lin did with all the salary he’s commanding if he doesn’t stay healthy though.
He’s already made more money.
Jeremy came from nowhere, undrafted. He did ok bro.
I would be quite nervous about this as a Mavs fan. Meniscus repairs are iffy. I had a pretty significant tear of my medial meniscus (Porzingis’ injury was to the lateral one) about 2 years ago, and my surgeon recommended against a reparative operation, noting the likelihood the repair could eventually fail. Instead, he removed almost all of it completely: a meniscectomy. This is what Zion had. I like Porzingis a lot, and I’m no doctor, but I think the likelihood he has significant future knee injuries is only increasing.
All these GM’S drool over these “unicorns” but they can barely stay on the court.
I find it hilarious that the “unicorn” name stuck in the first place.
It came from Durant trying to be clever when the Thunder were in NY, and the media asked him about how “impressive” KP was — and Durant responded:
“He can shoot, he can make the right plays, he can defend, he’s a 7-footer that can shoot all the way out to the 3-point line — That’s rare. And block shots—that’s like a unicorn in this league.”
2016 — link to si.com
He’s clearly defining himself too, and since he fits that description…I guess KP ISNT the “rare unicorn in his league” when the dude who gave that quote is literally the same thing.
People are so gullible man…
I know Luka is a great player and all, but if he doesn’t get help on the court, the Mavs will not be as big a threat in the West as some believe. With Phoenix looking better and the Pelicans getting another year of experience and even the T-Wolves possibly making noise with a full year of the DLo/KAT/#1 combo, the Mavs better not just sit around and expect to coast into the playoffs.
Made of glass! Knicks knew this clown can’t hang in NBA. You just don’t have it soft fool!
Nothing against KP. But he is not a guy you can depend on. Mavs have to find Luka help. Cause he is the real thing. Might be time to start thinking of a medical retirement for KP. Mavs can get out of contract. And look to sign someone else.
injuries happen its part of the game. look how many times dwayne wade got injured between 07-09. he finally became healthy when the big 3 formed. some mavs fan want a center so kp can play the 4. that wont work, kp cant chase around 4s. puts too much strees on knees. he is a 5 now. only way to perserve his knees. mavs have a top 3 training team. they will get KPs knees right….
You’ll be waiting a min if you think he’s fighting for position to grab boards vs 5s
I know technically he’s a 5 now, because he really can’t play the 4…but he’s damn sure not a 5 either. He once complained in a post-game locker room interview about how “tough it is out there with people leaning on you and then, then, then, then, then, you have to get position for the rebound” – or something to that effect.
Rebounds in space? Sure. Rebounds in traffic? He seems to avoid them. That would be the Mavs 5.
he avg more rebounds at the 5 spot than he did at the 4. those comments were also made years ago- when he wasnt as strong. he said mid January he is fine playing the 5 spot now. go do research and get to know facts before you type out nonsense.
also hypothetically what if luka was aRFA this year. would you give him a max contract? if so, your all are kinda bias because luka only played in 4 more games than KP did this year and missed around 15 games last season. so if you say trade kp because he isv “injury prone” might as well say trade luka as well because luka has been injured a lot too….
KP has two and a half more years of NBA-relevant data than Luka.
Straw argument.
they both played 72 games their rookie season. sophomore season kp played 66 and luka played 61. in addition luka would of missed more games if the season wasnt cut short. so far looking like same trajectory…
David 45@ According to your logic the Mavericks are in serious trouble if Luka plays 48 games his third year and then 57 games his fourth year ( mirroring KP.) He would definitely be injury-prone and a red flag. That’s the obvious case with KP, but you would hope Luka plays the full season from here on out. You can’t compare the two and if you did then Luka doncic is doomed as a failure as well with those kind of games missed upcoming.
im just bashing on people that think kp max contract was a mistake. i dont think it was and i think he deserves a max contract. everyone is just bending over and blowing luka thinking he is king. when in reality he missed just as many games as kp. but yet luka deserves a max and kp doesnt.
This sucks! But hopefully it means we get a healthy KP when it counts later in the season. Until then Luka will
I feel for KP cuz I’m sure he wants to be on the floor as much as anyone. He wants to earn that money he’s getting. It says he hurt his knee in game 1 and kept playing. That’s a man I can respect even though you never want a guy to do that, at least he’s trying to fight through it. I’m sure it hurt like crazy but he still got out there a couple more games. Respect all that.
Knicks definitely should have kept KP. That’s my opinion. And there are a bunch of reasons. They’re terrible anyway. If they’d maxed him out and sat him, it’d been easier to tank. We’d probably have Zion or Ja Morant now instead of Barrett. They got a lousy return. KP may miss a lot of games but he has championship level talent. Steph Curry was a bust his first 3 years in the league due to ankle injuries people thought might never heal. Shaq spent a bunch of seasons load managing. Kahwi Leonard plays like 60 to 65 games a season. Embiid has played less than KP but gets none of the hate that KP does.
You make the best of points! Can’t but agree with you! Perception & feelings seem to be what drives fans for some reason!