The Dallas Mavericks pulled off a surprising move prior to the 2019 NBA trade deadline, bringing in former New York Knicks talented young big man Kristaps Porzingis. While Porzingis has yet to play during the 2018-19 season, it became apparent that he and the Knicks were likely to part ways, so New York opted to move him. The deal made plenty of headlines, but the terms of the trade certainly made it stand out even more.
Details of the trade between the Mavericks and Knicks came out over time, but Marc Stein of the New York Times was the first to break the news. The deal featured a handful of players moved along with two picks. After the framework of the trade was revealed, The Athletic’s Michael Scotto reported the specific selections which the Knicks would receive.
- Knicks receive: Dennis Smith Jr., DeAndre Jordan, Wes Matthews, 2021 first-round pick (protected), 2023 first-round pick (protected)
- Mavericks receive: Kristaps Porzingis, Tim Hardaway Jr., Courtney Lee, Trey Burke
After this had gone through, the Knicks proceeded to buy Wes Matthews out of his contract, but to this point have kept DeAndre Jordan. The expectation is that Dennis Smith Jr. will have a major chance to be the team’s point guard of the future.
Mavericks ‘99.99%’ Likely to Sign Kristaps Porzingis to Extension?
While there are a number of things that point to Porzingis likely sticking with the Mavericks longterm (even his own comments), The Ringer’s Bill Simmons strongly believes that will be the case. Even beyond that, he apparently thinks that the contract extension with the Mavericks will be signed this coming offseason, as he stated just after the trade.
“FYI: the odds of Porzingis signing a huge extension w/ Dallas this summer are 99.99%
Qualifying offer for 2019-20: 5.7m, one year
Dallas extension: 28m in 2019-20, 125-130m range for 4 years.
So he’d just leave 22+ mill on the table for 2020 w/ his injury history? No way.” Simmons tweeted.
Porzingis has been out since the 2017-18 season with a torn ACL, and while there’s some reason to believe he could return to the court this year, neither Dallas nor New York felt the need to risk it. Instead, the Mavericks will give the 23-year-old the remainder of the year to continue rehabbing in preparation for the 2019-20 season.
Kristaps Porzingis’ Strong Start to Career
Through the first two and a half seasons of Porzingis’ NBA career, he’s showcased the ability to do a bit of everything. As a rookie, he averaged 14.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game and proceeded to get better and increase his numbers from that point. This all culminated with a 2017-18 season in which he played 48 games while averaging 22.7 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game while shooting 39.5 percent from beyond the arc.
Over the span of 186 career games to this point, Porzingis has posted marks of 17.8 points, 7.1 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game. He’s shooting 43.7 percent from the field and 36.1 percent from 3-point range. Mavericks fans have plenty to be excited about with the future pairing of Porzingis with young star Luka Doncic.
READ NEXT: Anthony Davis Trade: Will Lakers, Celtics or Knicks Land Star? (VOTE)
Comments
Kristaps Porzingis Trade: What Did Mavericks Send Knicks in Deal?