Getty Owner James Dolan and head coach Tom Thibodeau of the New York Knicks.
The New York Knicks are poised to officially clinch a playoff berth Sunday night against the heavily undermanned Washington Wizards.
The Wizards have listed their top players Bradley Beal, Kristaps Porzingis and Kyle Kuzma out for their final meeting with the Knicks this season, while their starting point guard Monte Morris is questionable to play with right ankle soreness.
Beal is nursing left knee soreness while Porzingis is out with a non-COVID illness. Beal and Porzingis are the Wizards leading scorers, averaging 23.2 points per game.
Kuzma, who put up 30 points per game in their first three meetings with the Knicks this season, has a right ankle sprain.
On the other hand, the Knicks remain without All-Star forward Julius Randle (left ankle sprain). They are coming off a massive 130-116 win over the fourth-seed Cleveland Cavaliers in their first game without Randle.
The Knicks have a 2-1 record against the Wizards this season.
Knicks’ Playoff Scenarios
A victory against the Wizards will assure the Knicks at least a top-six finish, as the seventh-seed Miami Heat (41-27) can only get to a maximum of 45 wins if they sweep their remaining four games.
It will be the Knicks’ second postseason run in the last three seasons or since Tom Thibodeau became their head coach.
The magic number for the Knicks (45-33) to clinch the fifth seed is two wins or two losses by the sixth-seed Brooklyn Nets (42-35) in their last five games.
No Kristaps Porzingis-Knicks Reunion?
Porzingis, a former Knicks lottery pick and franchise cornerstone, is seriously discussing a new deal with the Wizards, according to The Athletic.
The Latvian center and the Wizards have until June to reach an agreement. The Wziards can offer a maximum of a four-year deal worth $180 million if he opts out of his $36 million player option for next season.
This development dims the hope of a Porzingis-Knicks reunion in the near future.
In a January interview with NBA.com, Porzingis reflected on his failed Knicks tenure and dropped a bomb that sparked the hope of a reunion.
“I’m not going to lie; I missed it,” said Porzingis referring to playing at a sold-out Madison Square Garden.
When asked why things didn’t work out in New York after former Knicks president Phil Jackson made the fourth overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, Porzingis had some regrets.
“Could I go back and do things differently? For sure, from our side. I was hurt,” Porzingis said. “If I kept playing, it would’ve been completely different. I’m young and listening to people and what they’re telling me about what I should do with my career. You don’t know any better. That’s how things went at that time. I can only say really good things about the organization because I enjoyed it so much playing there in New York and playing in front of those fans.”
“It was a dream come true. In the moment, I didn’t realize it’s not like that everywhere. New York is a special place. Madison Square Garden is the most special place I had ever played in. But at that moment, I thought it was like that on every team. I had the most fun playing in The Garden.”
The Knicks traded Porzingis to the Dallas Mavericks in 2019 for Dennis Smith Jr., DeAndre Jordan, Wesley Matthews and two future first-round draft picks from the Mavericks in the deal. All players acquired in the trade are no longer playing for the Knicks.
But the cap space they created from that trade allowed them to sign Randle, who blossomed into an All-Star and All-NBA forward and Marcus Morris, Sr. The Knicks flipped Morris into a first-round pick from the Los Angeles Clippers, which they used to draft Immanuel Quickley.
One of the two first-round picks they acquired in the Porzingis trade was used to flip into Quentin Grimes, the 25th overall pick of the 2021 NBA Draft. The last remaining pick from the Porzingis trade will parlay in the next draft if the Mavericks’ selection falls out of the top 10.