The Knicks Send Kristaps Porzingis to the Mavs in an Absolute Blockbuster Deal
It all began with Woj lighting the fuse:
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
AND THEN THE WOJ BOMB:
Let’s try that again: Dallas is finalizing a deal to land Kristaps Porzingis, league sources tell ESPN. https://t.co/WacB71H1JW
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 31, 2019
It all happened so fast. There’s been little time to process. I was just at a Chili’s when the news broke. There was no time, so I threw precisely $11.43 onto the table (the bill was surely higher) and ran home to say this:
THE KNICKS ARE THE WORST ORGANIZATION IN ALL OF SPORTS!! ITS AN EMBARRASSMENT TO THE SPORT OF BASKETBALL HOW THEY DECIDE TO RUN THEIR TEAM!!
Lets take a look at the full deal here, cause its a big one:
New York has agreed with Dallas on trade that includes Kristaps Porzingis, Courtney Lee, Tim Hardaway Jr., for Wesley Matthews, Dennis Smith Jr. and DeAndre Jordan, league sources tell ESPN. Players and agents are being notified of particulars. Deal may include more draft assets.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 31, 2019
The two biggest names here are Kristaps getting sent to Dallas for Dennis Smith Jr. An important thing to add here is that the Knicks could have taken DSJ with the 8th pick in the 2017 draft, but instead took Frank Ntilikina. Again, I’d like to restate that the Knicks are an abomination. DeAndre is a good center, but he’s certainly not Porzingis. Wesley Matthews is decent, but he’s not worth Tim Hardaway Jr.
The only assumption here is that the Knicks are going all in to tank for Zion, which will go wonderfully because Zion definitely wants to play in New York. Totally certainly wants to be there and will be happy forever once he’s there.
Let’s look at the good side of things here. Dallas is a very legit team now. Certainly they need to add another big name if they want to be a contender, but the pairing of Kristaps and Luka Doncic is a European powerhouse like we’ve never seen in the NBA. There are not enough Larry Bird comparisons in the world for what these two are about to do on the basketball court.
This is all riding on how well Porzingis comes back from his torn ACL suffered in February. If he comes back healthy, the Mavs would not be a team I would want to face off against. Then again, if he doesn’t come back 100% the Knicks are still the worst team to ever exist.
The only bright spot the Knicks have right now is about $75 million in cap space. Thats enough money to sign two max contract players for next season. On paper that looks great, but then you remember they’re the New York Knicks and they’re going to totally botch this entirely.
As for Luka and KP, talk about Bird and Mchale going on down in Dallas. And for the record that’s not for the Celtics comparison, they’re just the two best white guys that I could think played together.
-Riley Banks (@RileyBanks10)
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