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Sunday 3 February 2019 22:32, UK
Why have the New York Knicks traded their injured franchise star Kristaps Porzingis to the Dallas Mavericks in a blockbuster deal?
What happened to the measured rebuild the New York Knicks front office promised at the start of this season? Knicks president Steve Mills and general manager Scott Perry swore the days of short-term fixes and often-baffling changes of direction were over. With a new coach, David Fizdale, also in tow, the franchise was, for the first time in forever, united and moving in one direction.
Knicks trade Porzingis to Mavericks
Then, a week before the trade deadline, they blew that apart by moving franchise star Kristaps Porzingis to the Dallas Mavericks in a seven-player deal that appears to net them very little - Dennis Smith Jr (who they could have drafted instead of Frank Ntilikina in 2017), the expiring contracts of DeAndre Jordan and Wesley Matthews, plus two future first-round Draft picks. Knicks guards Tim Hardaway Jr, Trey Burke and Courtney Lee head to Dallas with Porzingis.
Why did the Knicks choose to part ways with Porzingis, the 7ft 3in Latvian 'unicorn' who was supposed to be the cornerstone of the franchise for the next decade and beyond?
The Knicks, owners of the worst record (10-40) in the NBA, pulled the trigger on the trade just hours after Porzingis met with Perry and suggested he was unhappy with the direction of the team.
But this was not a knee-jerk decision. Porzingis' relationship with the front office has been fraught since Phil Jackson's days as team president.
Porzibgis skipped an end-of-season sit-down with Jackson in April 2017 and was also said to be upset with the manner in which he felt the former team president attempted to drive former franchise star Carmelo Anthony out of New York.
The endless losing cannot have helped either - the Knicks' best season return since Porzingis joined them is 32-50 (2015-16).
From the Knicks' perspective, could they have harboured concerns over Porzingis' recovery from the ACL injury that has kept him off the court since February 2018? Would he have been the same player when he eventually returned?
It is possible further division could have been caused by Porzingis wanting to return to action before the end of the season. The Knicks' front office would have preferred him to sit out for the whole campaign as without him, they would stand to lose more games and therefore solidify their chances for a top pick in the 2019 Draft.
Regardless of the reasoning, comments from Mills and Perry confirmed the disconnect between Porzingis and the organisation.
"When he came in today, it was clear to us that it was time to pull the trigger on something," Mills told the Associated Press. "We feel like we did the right thing. When you're trying to think about how you want to build your team for the long term, you don't want to commit a max [contract] to a player who clearly says to you he doesn't want to be here.
"We wanted a confirmation from him whether he was completely in or out, and he made it clear to us when he came in to meet with us that no longer wanted to be part of our group."
How do the Knicks benefit from moving on from their franchise star? The key lies in the contracts of Hardaway and Lee, which both run to the end of the 2019/20 season, and those of freshly-acquired ex-Mavericks Jordan and Matthews, whose deals end this summer.
When Jordan and Matthews' salaries come off New York's books, the Knicks will have the necessary cap space to sign two free agents on max contracts.
There are some big names available in free agency this summer, including Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Kawhi Leonard and Klay Thompson.
Talk of Durant ditching Golden State to head east has permeated the league all season. Irving pledged his future to the Boston Celtics at the start of the season but has since been linked with a move to rejoin former Cleveland team-mate LeBron James in Los Angeles. Leonard is impossible to second-guess. He is believed to favour a switch to the Los Angeles Clippers but could just as easily choose to resign in Toronto.
The point is that the acquisition of one or more of these big-name free agents is by no means guaranteed - as far as we know.
Like-wise, 'tanking' their way through the remainder of the regular season only ensures the Knicks a 14 per cent-chance of acquiring the No 1 Draft pick, even if they finish with the league's worst record.
If everything pans out, the Knicks could start next season with a new core of Durant, Irving and consensus No 1 pick Zion Williamson.
Should they be lucky enough to land the No 1 pick, the prospect of trading it to the New Orleans Pelicans for their wantaway star Anthony Davis - who is reported to have interest in playing for New York - becomes an option.
But none of that is certain. If the Knicks' new plans do not pan out, they could be looking at a new roster led by second-tier free agents Kemba Walker and Tobias Harris (very good players, but not in the league of superstars Durant, Leonard and Irving), plus the No 4 or 5 Draft pick.
Knicks fans have seen this before. The club spent three years clearing salary cap space in advance of the 2010 'Summer of LeBron'. James signed with the Miami Heat leaving the Knicks to spend $100m on Amare Stoudemire and his ailing knees. 'STAT' shone brightly for half of his first season but his body ultimately failed him and the Knicks were no further forward.
For a team that has redefined NBA futility for much of the last 15 years, maybe this trade is worth the gamble, particularly given the front office have slowly alienated Porzingis, their best players over the past five years.
But after the Knicks' brain-trust promised stability and a commitment to build a young core (Kevin Knox, Mitchell Robinson, Ntilikina) around Porzingis that would grow together, trading the Latvian smacks of a return to the bad old days at Madison Square Garden.
Unless Mills and Perry somehow have assurances that KD and Kyrie are coming to New York in the summer.
