The New York Knicks will trade Kristaps Porzingis to the Dallas Mavericks this week, in a deal that features six players in total, according to initial reports from Marc Stein and Adrian Wojnarowski and confirmed by USA TODAY Sports’ Jeff Zillgitt. I’ll let my other colleagues talk about what on earth the Knicks are trying to do with this deal (my guess = try to tank, draft Zion Williamson, and hopefully convince Kevin Durant to sign with the cap space?) But I will not talk any more of the sad sack Knicks, who are sad and make me sad. Instead, let’s talk about the Mavericks, because hoo buddy, we get to watch Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis play together for a decade. A decade, I say. Do you understand how unbelievably fun this is going to be? A 7’3″ center with range and one of the best young playmakers in the NBA, playing together, coached by Rick Carlisle, who it notably not terrible at his job? I just started thinking about Porzingis-Doncic pick-and-rolls and got shivers. They complement each other perfectly, two franchise cornerstones you can build around. Put some long, athletic 3-and-D guys around them and watch the offense start flowing. Doncic is 19. Porzingis is 23. Anything can happen, of course. Maybe they won’t get along. Maybe it won’t mesh like I’m imagining it will. Maybe Carlisle leaves, Porzingis decides he wants to pursue a music career, and Doncic decides to become a monk. Anything can happen. But another thing that can happen is they do incredibly dope stuff on a basketball court for a decade, and I watch them three nights a week and clap my hands together like a happy, happy boy. LOOK THEY’RE ALREADY FRIENDS. "Save my spot on the plane tonight" pic.twitter.com/IKwcE3Ufad — Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 31, 2019 Sorry, Knicks fans. I truly am. I hope Kevin Durant does join your team. I hope you get the No. 1 pick. The league is more fun when you are good. But for now, you make me sad. It’s Luka-Kristaps time, and I am here for it.<doc-sep>Kristaps Porzingis is coming off of an ACL tear, but he should fit in well with Luka Doncic, who has quickly emerged as one of the brightest young stars in the league. Kristaps Porzingis has played his last game for the New York Knicks. The Knicks announced on Thursday that they have traded the one-time All-Star to the Dallas Mavericks for Dennis Smith Jr., DeAndre Jordan, Wesley Matthews and two future first-round picks. Tim Hardaway Jr., Courtney Lee and Trey Burke are also going to Dallas in the deal. The team has acquired guard Dennis Smith Jr., center DeAndre Jordan, guard/forward Wesley Matthews and two future first round draft picks from Dallas in exchange for forward Kristaps Porzingis, and guards Tim Hardaway Jr., Trey Burke and Courtney Lee. - NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) January 31, 2019 Porzingis hasn't played since Feb. 6 of last season after suffering a torn ACL in his left knee - a scary injury for a player his size - but he has the potential to thrive alongside Luka Doncic in ways Smith and Jordan couldn't. With that in mind, let's take a closer look at how the big man fits in with his new team. What does Porzingis bring to the Mavericks? A whole lot of scoring. Porzingis averaged 22.7 points per game last season, which put him behind only Giannis Antetokounmpo, Anthony Davis, LeBron James and Kevin Durant at the time of his injury for the most in the league at the forward position. He was productive the two years prior, posting 14.3 points per game as a rookie and 18.1 points per game as a sophomore. While he's nowhere near the passer that Antetokounmpo, Davis, James and Durant are - Porzingis has never averaged more than 1.5 assists per game in a single season - the Latvian has developed into arguably the best shooting big man in the NBA. He made 39.5 percent of his 3-point attempts and 40.2 percent of his midrange attempts last season, two shots that accounted for more than half of his made field goals on the year. Those splits are remarkable considering Porzingis is tied with Boban Marjanovic for the tallest player in the league. Porzingis is a versatile shooter, too. He moves off of screens in ways you wouldn't expect to see from a player his size and he can pick-and-pop with the best of them. He's basically this era's version of Dirk Nowitzki, making him a natural fit with Doncic, who will take over as the primary ball handler now that Smith is no longer with the Mavericks. Expect to see a lot of this between Doncic and Porzingis in Dallas moving forward: Porzingis is even a dominant scorer with his back to the basket. Through 48 games last season, only Joel Embiid and LaMarcus Aldridge had more points in the post. Both of them were more efficient in those situations, but Porzingis has improved as a post scorer each season he's been in the league. What he lacks in strength Porzingis makes up for in size. At 7-foot-3 with a 7-foot-6 wingspan, he can shoot over just about any defender in the league, even opposing centres. According to NBA.com, he led the league in shot attempts against tight coverage last season and converted them at the same rate as Kevin Durant. Porzingis won't be the No. 1 option like he was in New York, but his comfort in the post will take some of the pressure off of Doncic. If teams switch those pick-and-pops that should become a staple in Dallas, the Mavericks will have the option of clearing the lane for Doncic to attack a bigger defender in isolation or giving Porzingis the ball on the block against a much smaller defender. Porzingis impacts the game in others as well. He averaged 6.6 rebounds and a career-high 2.4 blocks per game last season, the latter being good enough for the second-most in the league. Even though most of his minutes in the NBA have come at power forward, Porzingis is more than capable of playing centre. It actually suits him better because it means he doesn't have to spend as much time chasing players around on the perimeter. If the Mavericks can surround Doncic and Porzingis with shooters and defenders in the years to come, they could have the makings of a future contender. It at least gives them a potentent - and cheap - one-two punch that can compete with the best young cores in the league. This is all operating under the assumption that Porzingis will come back from his injury at the same player, but he still has plenty to offer as a shooter and rim protector even if he doesn't. Plus, Porzingis fits in better with Doncic's timeline than Jordan did while allowing the Mavericks to still be competitive. Whereas Jordan is 30-years-old, Porzingis is only 23 with his best years still ahead of him. It makes for a home run deal for a team that already had a bright future. The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA or its clubs.<doc-sep>The Mavericks’ European star combo just got new life. While Dallas may lose Dirk Nowitzki to retirement at the end of this season, his replacement may have just landed in the form of Kristaps Porzingis, who could pair with Luka Doncic as a tantalizing duo for years to come. Porzingis, 23, is already planning to sign a qualifying offer with Dallas this summer as a restricted free agent, The Athletic reported, and the Mavericks said they believe they can keep him around with a long-term contract, according to ESPN. Having both the 19-year-old Doncic and Nowitzki — even if he retires — will likely help in that regard as Porzingis joins forces with a rookie guard he has admired and a veteran forward he has looked up to. Porzingis and Doncic, who shared a moment at halftime of the Knicks-Mavericks game at the Garden on Wednesday night, have played against each other in Eurobasket. When Doncic was an 18-year-old on Team Slovenia, he made a strong impression while dueling with Porzingis, playing for Team Latvia. “I don’t know any other European kid that plays at such a high level,” Porzingis previously told ESPN of Doncic. The admiration is mutual. “He’s just an amazing player,” Doncic told MSG on Wednesday night as Porzingis continued to rehab his torn ACL. “I watched him a lot, especially when I was in Europe watching NBA games. I watched a lot of New York Knicks, just ’cause of him. He has an amazing future in the NBA. He could be one of the best to play this game.”<doc-sep>The New York Knicks shocked the basketball world yesterday when they dealt Kristaps Porzingis to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Dennis Smith Jr and some cap space. It was a move that had basketball fans, especially Knick fans split down the middle but if there is one group that loves it, it's the Dallas Mavericks. Mavericks veteran Dirk Nowitzki and rookie Luka Doncic both shared their thoughts on the trade Thursday night. "If you have a chance to add a franchise-caliber player like Porzingis you've just gotta go for it," Nowitzki said according to ESPN. "He's mobile enough to play the 4. He can be a spread 5. 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." Doncic echoed those same sentiments saying that he thinks Porzingis has a ton of potential. "He's such an amazing player, so this could be a good thing," Doncic explained. "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." The Dallas Mavericks are currently hovering at the bottom of the Western Conference standings, while the Knicks are last place in the entire league.<doc-sep>
The New York Knicks have traded Kristaps Porzingis to the Dallas Mavericks, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The deal, according to the New York Times’ Marc Stein, will send Dennis Smith Jr., DeAndre Jordan and Wesley Matthews to New York, and Porzingis, Courtney Lee, Tim Hardaway Jr., and two future first-round picks to the Mavericks. New York has announced the deal in a press release, with general manager Scott Perry confirming that Porzingis made a “request to be traded,” which Wojnarowski reported earlier on Thursday. Porzingis’ dismay with the Knicks isn’t new. It was just two season ago when former President of Basketball Operations Phil Jackson tried to trade him. But wow, this trade came up quick, shocking the league. Related Everything you need to know about the stunning Kristaps Porzingis trade Why this trade makes sense for the Mavericks The Mavericks are taking a gamble that Porzingis, who is nursing a torn ACL he suffered last season, will recover to full form. That isn’t a sure bet for a 7’3 mobile big, but if it pays out, it could be tremendous. The Mavericks dealt Dennis Smith Jr., a fine talent who probably wasn’t a long-term fit next to Luka Doncic, and Jordan and Matthews, whose contracts are expiring anyway, to take on a unicorn All-Star. Pairing a 19-year-old Doncic with a 23-year-old Porzingis could be the 1-2 punch of the future. It’s conceivable that Dallas’ window to building a title contender is in sight. Related Why Kristaps Porzingis was fed up with the Knicks and preferred to be traded There are more doubts besides health, though. According to Yahoo’s Shams Charania, Porzingis intends to sign the qualifying offer in the offseason, making himself a free agent in 2020. Will all this be for a year’s rental of Porzingis? Still, it’s a risk with tremendous upside. Why this makes sense for the Knicks This trade only works out if the Knicks land a major free agent this summer, whether it be Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant or another unknown. The Knicks freed themselves of big contracts in a salary-dump effort by shedding Hardaway Jr. and Lee’s deals. They’ll now have not one, but two max money slots to work with. Related How the Kristaps Porzingis trade gives the Knicks a chance to sign 2 superstars If the Knicks swing and miss again, their return will look minimal. Jordan and Matthews’ contracts expire at the end of the year, meaning Smith is the lone talent guaranteed past this season. And his upside is a shade of what Porzingis’ is, albeit he’s a promising talent. Both the Knicks and Mavs are going for home run hits with this move. More from our team communities