Maybe the Porzingis Trade Wasn’t So Bad After All

After taking time to cool down from my initial reaction, I think I’m ready to talk about trading Kristaps Porzingis.  I wanted to get something immediately.  Empire Sports Media likes to get the news out to our supporters like any other website.  But, if I wrote something in the heat of the moment, it would have been written with rage and not thought out.

With that being said, I am calm and ready to write.

Right out the gates, this sucks.  Porzingis was the bets player we’ve drafted since Ewing and we shipped him to Dallas.  He was a player that we boo’ed because we didn’t know who he was, but then turned into our most believed superstar.  Porzingis was our only true glimmer of hope and he turned his back on us.  It sucks because there’s more information that will most likely come out about this debacle.

Porzingis’ instagram story last night was a black screen reading, “The truth will come out soon :).”  What truth?  We know you and your brother didn’t like the Knicks management throughout your tenure and you didn’t like the direction of the team.  Nothing new there, moving on.

The Trade

New York Knicks receive Dennis Smith Jr, Wesley Matthews, DeAndre Jordan and 2 first round picks (2021, unprotected and 2023, protected).

Dallas Mavericks receive Kristaps Porzingis, Tim Hardaway Jr., Courtney Lee and Trey Burke.

Breakdown

I actually believe that this is a decent trade now.  I thought that it seemed was to rushed considering that Porzingis asked for a trade and then was dealt a few hours after.  That just means that this trade was in the works already.

The Knicks finally shipped away Hardaway Jr. and his contract away, for a second time, which I know many Knicks fans are happy about.  Lee’s contract, also pretty outlandish.  They got rid of one of their 4 guards, Burke, and finally got first round picks in return.  We never get first round picks, so that’s just the icing on the cake.

In return the Knicks get Smith Jr., who they passed on two years ago for Frank Ntilikina.  But hey, look on the bright side, now we have both!  Matthews and Jordan, both have expiring contracts.  But, President Steve Mills indicated that they team will hang onto both for good veteran leadership.  In my opinion, trade bait.

Enes Kanter was not happy to hear management say those two new incoming players will bring “good leadership.”  As Kanter tweeted a range of emojis yesterday throughout this whole thing.

However, the best thing the Knicks did in this trade was clear up to 74 million dollars in cap space for this coming off-season.  This means they can offer two players max contracts.

After this wild ride, I believe the Knicks are more appealing than ever.  The Knicks still have good, young pieces for the future and now the cap space to get big free agents.  With a disgruntled Porzingis gone, whoever comes in free agency will have full control of the team.  That’s why it could be appealing for Kevin Durant and/or Kyrie Irving.  Oh, I also forget a possible number one pick in this years draft.

All and all, Porzingis did bring hope to a city that embraced him after booing in on draft night.  Porzingis has been injured for a good amount of his career.  A player coming off an ACL injury, who hasn’t played all season and who’s making demands?  Come on, now.

It was a good decision for the Knicks and created room for the Knicks to succeed in the near future.  However, we won’t see the results of this trade until after free agency.  If the Knicks get some players to come and turn the franchise around,it’s a win.  If no one comes, it’s a big loss.  It’s the franchises biggest off-season ever.