NBA World Reacts To The Kristaps Porzingis Trade Rumors
DALLAS, TX - APRIL 09: Kristaps Porzingis of Dallas Mavericks warms up prior the game between Phoenix Suns and Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center on April 9, 2019 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Omar Vega/Getty Images)
It was just over two years ago that the New York Knicks traded Kristaps Porzingis, a 7-foot-3 unicorn of a center, to the Dallas Mavericks. Pairing Porzingis, who can block shots and shoot from deep, with one of the NBA's most promising young playmakers in Luka Doncic, seemed like a slam dunk for the Mavs at the time.
Fast forward, and while Porzingis has certainly had his moments, things haven't gone nearly as well as most envisioned with the Mavericks. While his offensive numbers remain impressive, he's slipped as a defensive force, he's missed a number of games, and the Mavericks just don't seem well built with him as the team's second star to Doncic. Dallas is just 14-15, and ninth in the Western Conference.
Now, we're starting to see trade rumors pop up. "Dallas has quietly gauged the trade market for Porzingis, according to league sources, as the Mavericks have begun reevaluating whether the 25-year-old center can truly support Doncic as the second option on a contender," Bleacher Report's Jake Fischer reported on Monday. "They're taking the temperature, because they know at some point it's gonna come around," an unnamed assistant general manager said in the piece. Ian Begley of SNY named the Golden State Warriors as one of the teams involved in talks.
Mavs owner Mark Cuban roundly dismissed any Kristaps Porzingis trade speculation. "It's not accurate," he told Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News. "We have not discussed him in a trade at all."
That hasn't stopped the speculation about where Porzingis could go, and what the Dallas Mavericks could seek for him. Even with questions about his ceiling, he's still a dangerous player, and won't turn 26 until this summer.
The fan base that may be reacting most heavily to these rumors: the New York Knicks. The team's trade of Porzingis a few years ago was not particularly popular at the time, but they've emerged as one of the NBA's real surprises this season, with Julius Randle, who is now playing power forward for the Knicks, is a potential all-star, and is putting up better numbers than Porzingis.
You don't typically see Knicks fans getting to dunk on other fan bases, especially years after a trade that many were pretty angry about, but here we are.
