Stephen A. Smith is excited at the possibilities for the New York Knicks after they finalize the Kristaps Porzingis trade to the Dallas Mavericks. (1:22) The Dallas Mavericks have acquired All-Star forward Kristaps Porzingis and three other players from the New York Knicks in exchange for a package that includes point guard Dennis Smith Jr. and two future first-round picks. Wesley Matthews and DeAndre Jordan, who both have expiring contracts and could be buyout candidates, will also go to the Knicks. Trey Burke, who is averaging 11.8 points per game this season, is headed to the Mavericks along with Porzingis, Courtney Lee and Tim Hardaway Jr. The deal came after Porzingis met with Knicks management Thursday and left franchise officials with the impression that he wanted to be traded, sources told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. The meeting lasted less than five minutes, league sources told ESPN's Ian Begley. New York had several offers for Porzingis before completing the deal with Dallas, sources said. The Knicks did call New Orleans about Anthony Davis, a source told ESPN's Ramona Shelburne, but the Pelicans weren't interested in the Latvian. There was uncertainty over Porzingis' willingness to remain in New Orleans beyond his current contract, sources told ESPN. Knicks general manager Scott Perry acknowledged that the club had many conversations with a number of teams about potential trades prior to meeting with Porzingis. "We started to get a feel, we could see that he wasn't completely buying into what we were trying to do," Knicks president Steve Mills said during a post-trade conference call. "And again, [during Thursday's meeting] we wanted a confirmation from him whether he was completely in or out. He made it clear to us when he came in to meet with us that he no longer wanted to be part of our group. "... With the uncertainty of [his] status and coming off the injury as well, it made Feb. 7 [the trade deadline] a very important date for us. We felt that in the best interests of the organization, and the Knicks fan base too, that we had to make a move here. We feel very good about that move." The Knicks will get the Mavericks' unprotected first-round pick two years after they send one to the Atlanta Hawks to complete their draft-day deal for Luka Doncic and another first-round pick that is protected two years after that, sources told Begley and Wojnarowski. Those picks could come as soon as 2021 and 2023 if Dallas does not move into the top five this year. The Mavericks are hoping to re-sign the 7-foot-3 Porzingis, who will be a restricted free agent, to a long-term deal this summer, and they are confident that Doncic and veteran Dirk Nowitzki can play significant roles in making that happen, a source told ESPN. "He loves Luka and Dirk," a source told ESPN about Porzingis, whose other option would be to sacrifice millions by playing on a one-year qualifying offer. Porzingis spent time with Doncic in Madrid last summer while he rehabbed his ACL injury at the Real Madrid facility, sources said. "We obviously think Porzingis is a great young talent, similar in many ways to Dirk," coach Rick Carlisle said on the Mavs' flagship station 103.3 FM ESPN. "This is kind of a Dirk-and-[Steve] Nash type of situation, only these guys are taller." Porzingis took to Twitter after the trade to post a few emoji to go with a video of him and Doncic from Wednesday night's Mavs-Knicks game at Madison Square Garden. Late Thursday, Porzingis again tweeted to say: "New York will always have a special place in my heart. Grateful for everybody who made this journey so special for my family and I." There has been a strong disconnect between Porzingis and Knicks management in recent years, and it culminated in Thursday's meeting. He expressed concerns on the state of the franchise and his future with the organization, sources said. Porzingis, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft, was averaging a career-best 22.7 points per game before he suffered a left knee injury during a breakout All-Star season in 2017-18. He also was averaging 6.6 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game. Hardaway, 26, was leading the Knicks with 19.1 points per game this season, but New York wanted to move him because he is due $18.2 million next season and has a player option for $19 million in 2020-21. Lee, 33, is due $12.8 million next season. He has played sparingly this season due to the Knicks' youth movement but averaged 12.0 points per game as a starter last season. "There are other good players in the deal," Carlisle said. "Hardaway Jr. is a terrific shooter and a proven 2 guard in this league. Courtney Lee has been a guy that's been out of the rotation in New York, because they've been going young and all that kind of stuff, but he's a guy that can still play the game well. He's a good defender and shoots the ball well. And Trey Burke's resurrected his career." play 2:02 Woj breaks down impact of Porzingis trade Adrian Wojnarowski joins SportsCenter to dissect the Knicks trading Kristaps Porzingis to the Mavericks. By clearing their books of those contracts, ESPN's Bobby Marks projects the Knicks to have a league-high $71 million in salary cap space this summer -- enough to attempt to sign two maximum-salary free agents. New York will target the top players on the market, which is expected to include Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard and Kyrie Irving. Some close to Durant see New York as a possible landing spot for the back-to-back NBA Finals MVP if he chooses to leave the Golden State Warriors, according to league sources. The Knicks (10-40) have struggled without the 23-year-old Porzingis, who has been sidelined for nearly a year because of his ACL injury. He was evaluated in January by the team's medical staff, which confirmed his knee is healing well. He recently worked out with a coach on the court for roughly 45 minutes. The workout included Porzingis shooting pull-up 3-pointers and dunking. Smith returned to the Mavericks lineup on Jan. 23 after a two-week absence while trade rumors swirled. While the team chalked up the six games missed to back soreness and an illness, Carlisle later acknowledged that "business stuff" was behind the absence. Sources told ESPN that Smith, a 2017 lottery pick who is averaging 12.9 points and 4.3 assists per game this season, had taken issue with some of Carlisle's tough coaching tactics and that the 21-year-old wasn't pleased with his role playing primarily off the ball due to Doncic's emergence as an All-Star-caliber playmaker. "Dennis Smith has had a really terrific year and a half in terms of growth," Carlisle said Thursday. "I mean, he tops it off last night with a triple-double [against the Knicks]. He's a tremendous young player, and New York is such an exciting environment for a guy like him. It'll be a great situation for him." Some in the Knicks' front office were enamored with Smith ahead of the 2017 NBA draft, sources said. The Knicks instead selected Frank Ntilikina with the No. 8 pick. Ntilikina's name has come up in recent trade discussions, including informal talks between New York and Dallas about the possibility of moving Porzingis, sources told ESPN. Mills said Thursday that he is looking forward to Smith and Ntilikina complementing one another. "He's very explosive. And we think the guy has a chance to be a really, really good basketball player in this league," Perry said. "So we're excited about handing him over to coach [David] Fizdale and his staff and letting him really work with him in the development and round out his game." New York will continue to try to trade disgruntled center Enes Kanter ahead of the Feb. 7 trade deadline, sources told ESPN. The 6-11 Jordan, an 11-year veteran, averaged 11.0 points and 13.7 rebounds per game for the Mavericks this season.<doc-sep>So much for Super Bowl week. The NBA is king! Right in the middle of all the Anthony Davis trade talk, the New York Knicks, pretty much out of nowhere, have traded Kristaps Porzingis, along with Tim Hardaway Jr., Courtney Lee and Trey Burke, to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Dennis Smith Jr., DeAndre Jordan and Wesley Matthews. New York will also receive a 2021 unprotected first-round pick and a 2023 protected first-round pick (1-10), according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski and Ian Begley. Here are the grades for each team in this blockbuster trade: Dallas Mavericks: A+ Dallas receives: Kristaps Porzingis Tim Hardaway Jr. Courtney Lee Trey Burke This is like when an athlete says they're going to give 110 percent. It's not possible, but you get the point. So whatever the highest available grade is, the Mavericks deserve higher. Like 150 percent. An A with like 20 pluses. Just an absolute grand slam of a deal. Unbelievable. Please look what the Mavericks have pulled off in less than seven months of time. Before we go any further with the excitement, there is one small thing here that could burn the Mavs. According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, Porzingis hasn't yet committed long-term to the Mavericks and could still decide to sign the qualifying offer for next season. Here's what that means: Every player coming into restricted free agency, when the incumbent team has the right to match any offer on the open market, can accept a one-year qualifying deal for significantly less money to become an unrestricted free agent the next year. In other words, Porzingis could play next season for Dallas for $4.4 million, more than $23 million less than he is eligible to sign for, but by doing so he'll be unrestricted in the summer of 2020, meaning he could walk for nothing if he doesn't like the way things are going with Dallas. But that is a bet the Mavericks had to make. They have Luka Doncic. They are a smart, well-run organization. Lee, Harrison Barnes and Dwight Powell will all be off the books in 2020, meaning -- if Porzingis were to take the qualifying deal -- the Mavs could work their books to have cap space for additional talent in the same summer that they are also able to sign Porzingis to a max deal with his Bird rights. There is just no other way to look at this. The Mavericks are in unbelievably exciting shape projecting forward. Seven months ago they had the No. 5 overall pick with Harrison Barnes as their best player. Now they have Luka Doncic, Kristaps Porzingis and flexibility in hte near future to really start their run with these two guys in front. Amazing. New York Knicks: C New York receives: Dennis Smith Jr. DeAndre Jordan Wesley Matthews Two future first-round picks Good news: The Knicks got a somewhat nice prospect in Dennis Smith Jr. to presumably be their point guard of the future. The bad news: They could've just drafted Smith in the first place in 2017 when they took Frank Ntilikina one pick ahead of him. Giving up the best asset your organization has had in decades for a guy you could've just drafted in the first place has Knicks written all over it. Still, they got Smith. Not great, but not terrible. The Knicks also get two future first-round picks, which is solid even if Dallas turns into a top-10 team. At least one first-round pick was pretty much a must for what was supposed to be your franchise player; to get two is all the better. Most of all, New York cleared valuable cap space by getting off Hardaway's money. DeAndre Jordan and Wesley Matthews become immediate buyout candidates, but whatever happens, they both come off the books this summer, when the Knicks now project to have over $74 million in cap space. That's enough for two max players. A reminder of who's coming up on the market this summer: Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Kawhi Leonard, Jimmy Butler, Kemba Walker, Klay Thompson and DeMarcus Cousins, just to name a few. The Knicks would've had enough for one of those players even before this trade. If they get two of them, we'll look back at this as a monster win. But that is a humongous "if." Understand, there was some urgency here for the Knicks to get something done not only as it became clear that Porzingis wanted out, but as the trade deadline approaches next Thursday. If that would've passed without a deal, Porzingis could've signed that one-year qualifying deal mentioned in the Mavericks section, which would've made him an unrestricted free agent in 2020 when New York could've lost him for nothing. The other scenario would've been Porzingis going the normal restricted free agent route this summer and forcing the Knicks to, again, match what presumably will be at least a relatively significant offer, and frankly, were the Knicks ever sure they wanted to saddle up with Porzingis long term as their attention turns almost entirely in the direction of much bigger fish this summer? So, yes, there was some urgency to get this done somewhat quickly. That doesn't mean they couldn't have gotten an equal offer from a number of teams for Porzingis. There was another Dennis Smith Jr. out there. Plenty of teams would've taken on Tim Hardaway for two more years to get Porzingis. The two first-round picks? Don't know if that was out there. We'll never know. Here's the other thing: How will this affect the way they perform this season? If somehow these guys make them better and they win a few more games, and in doing so lose out potentially on a shot at the top overall pick -- probably Duke's Zion Williamson -- then we'll look back even more critically and wonder why they didn't just wait until the summer to trade Porzingis and keep losing this season. That said, they're still going to stink. So this isn't a huge part of this equation. So that's where we are with this grade. Somewhere in the middle. It depends a lot on what New York does with its newfound money this summer. Until then, a C feels right.<doc-sep>The Knicks shook the N.B.A. on Thursday by abruptly cutting ties with Kristaps Porzingis, sending the player long billed as their 7-foot 3-inch savior to the Dallas Mavericks in a blockbuster trade that could make New York a major player in free agency this July. The deal, which was first disclosed by The New York Times, came one week before the N.B.A.’s trading deadline and changes the course of the Knicks’ franchise. Porzingis, Tim Hardaway Jr., Courtney Lee and Trey Burke have all been shipped to Dallas in exchange for the promising guard Dennis Smith Jr., who was a first-round draft pick in 2017, two future first-round picks and the expiring contracts of the veterans DeAndre Jordan and Wesley Matthews. Porzingis, who was increasingly unhappy about the Knicks’ constant losing and is scheduled to become a restricted free agent July 1, asked to be traded on Thursday, according to both a team statement and subsequent comments that Knicks President Steve Mills and General Manager Scott Perry made on a conference call Thursday evening. But the Knicks and the Mavericks were already far along in trade talks before Porzingis lodged that request, according to two people with knowledge of the situation who were not authorized to discuss it publicly.<doc-sep>
The New York Knicks are entering a new era as they have traded Kristaps Porzingis to the Dallas Mavericks in a blockbuster deal on Thursday afternoon. New York will bring back Dennis Smith Jr. and clear a bunch of salary in the deal, receiving the expiring contracts of DeAndre Jordan and Wesley Matthews and sending Tim Hardaway Jr. and Courtney Lee to the Mavericks. The Knicks will also get two future first-round picks from the Mavericks. For the Mavs, this is about giving Luka Doncic a co-star to build around for, ideally, the next decade-plus. For the Knicks, this is about creating the cap room to chase two maximum-salary free agents this summer, and severing ties with a player who has reportedly been dissatisfied with the direction of the organization. Dallas will be praised for being bold, just as it was when it acquired Doncic on draft night, and it will be impossible to judge New York's decision without seeing if the front office can actually convince superstars to come play at Madison Square Garden. Porzingis hasn't played a game this season, but he was reportedly due for another evaluation in mid-February. Porzingis has been dealing with an ACL injury all season, and he was traded the same day he reportedly voiced dissatisfaction with the team on Thursday. According to The Athletic's Shams Charania, this deal doesn't come without strings for the Mavericks. Porzingis reportedly plans on signing the team's qualifying offer of $4.5 million, allowing him to be an unrestricted free agent a year ahead of schedule. According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, however, no decisions have been made on that front just yet. Porzingis wants to get to know the team and rehab his ACL, so his status is up in the air. The Mavericks are currently 23-27, 12th in the Western Conference. Needless to say, however, the move to acquire Porzingis while he was still injured was an investment. Porzingis signing the qualifying offer, however, would change the outlook of this trade. According to projections from SportsLine data scientist Stephen Oh, the Mavericks aren't seeing a lot of change in the short-term, even assuming Porzingis returns to game action on March 1. Mavericks Conference Wins Losses Before trade 13th 38.8 43.2 After trade 11th 39.8 42.2 The Mavericks' playoff chances also jump to 16.8 percent from 9.7 percent. Once again, however, this move will partially be influenced by what Porzingis decides to do in the immediate future. He and Donic could be a dangerous tandem, but if he absconds as soon as possible then this trade could be viewed differently -- particularly if the Knicks' ideal offseason plays out. Porzingis has career averages of 17.8 points and 7.1 rebounds, while shooting 36 percent from 3-point range. He could be a terrific component for the Mavericks if he's able to fully recover. First, however, he needs to recover. The Mavericks have a bright future one way or another with Doncic. If Porzingis comes back at 100 percent -- even if it's next season -- they could be a team to keep an eye on in the vaunted Western Conference for years to come.