© Kyle Terada | 2016 Dec 15
In a move that was a shocking as it was swift, the New York Knicks traded franchise cornerstone Kristaps Porzingis to the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday, in a blockbuster deal that included seven players and a likely two first-round picks.
Sources: Full players involved in Knicks/Mavericks deal:
Kristaps Porzingis, Tim Hardaway Jr., Courtney Lee, Trey Burke to Dallas.
Sources: Dallas’ draft compensation to New York in Kristaps Porzingis deal: Two future first-round picks.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 31, 2019
Dennis Smith Jr., Wes Matthews, DeAndre Jordan and likely first-round draft pick compensation to New York.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 31, 2019
This all sort of came out of nowhere. Porzingis has been on the shelf all season as he recovers from a torn ACL sustained in February of 2018. Porzingis apparently met with Knicks officials on Thursday, expressed concern with the future of the organization, and left the team “with the impression” that he wanted to be traded. An hour later, he was packing his bags for Texas.
Kristaps Porzingis left the Knicks with the impression that he prefers to be traded, league sources tell @ramonashelburne and me. Knicks are expected to commence discussions on moving him ahead of next Thursday’s deadline.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 31, 2019
To fully understand this situation, and the Knicks motive for moving a 23-year old stretch five who projects as a perennial All-Star, one must first look toward the 2019 offseason, and New York’s belief that they’ll now have a real chance to land not one, but two superstars.
Moving Porzingis means the Knicks will have cap room to sign two max-players. One of those players — they hope — is Kevin Durant, who is scheduled to hit unrestricted free agency this offseason, and who has been reported as New York’s primary target. If the Knicks were to land Durant, it would be easier — in theory — to convince another superstar (Kyrie Irving for example) to join forces with KD in the Big Apple, and give the Knicks a core better than anything they’ve had for decades.
Big picture: The Knicks have to be convinced they are going to land Kevin Durant this summer … and are clearing the room so KD can sell someone on playing with him.
— Chris Mannix (@SIChrisMannix) January 31, 2019
There’s also a decent chance the Knicks land the No. 1 pick, as they currently hold the worst record in the NBA 50 games in, something that isn’t likely to change considering they just traded their top scorer (Hardaway) and that both Matthews and Jordan are expected to be bought out (the Warriors will likely kick the tires on both players).
There is the possibility of course that the Knicks end up getting nothing. Durant has been careful to not make any indications as to what he is planning on doing this summer, and probably doesn’t even know himself at this point. Predicting what Durant wants is a mostly pointless exercise, but few would argue that signing with the Knicks, over a Warriors team that come June may have just won their third straight NBA title, is anything close to likely. If they don’t land KD, enticing two other superstars will become exponentially more difficult.
Still, this big swing probably made the most sense for the Knicks. Porzingis was unhappy, and the team wasn’t exactly lighting the world on fire with him in the fold. This at least give the floundering organization an outside chance of pulling off something great this offseason.
But for that to happen, they’ll need Durant to buy in, and to trade playing with one of the greatest teams of all time for a starless Knicks team that hasn’t made the playoffs since 2013.
Good luck.