Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Knicks Trade Kristaps Porzingis To Mavericks For Dennis Smith Jr & Deandre Jordan

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Knicks Trade Kristaps Porzingis To Mavericks For Dennis Smith Jr & Deandre Jordan

    Knicks trade Kristaps Porzingis to Mavericks as part of 7-player swap

    The Dallas Mavericks have acquired All-Star forward Kristaps Porzingis and three other players from the New York Knicks in exchange for a package that includes point guard Dennis Smith Jr. and two future first-round picks.

    Wesley Matthews and DeAndre Jordan, who both have expiring contracts and could be buyout candidates, will also go to the Knicks. Trey Burke, who is averaging 11.8 points this season, is headed to the Mavericks along with Porzingis, Courtney Lee and Tim Hardaway Jr.

    The deal came after Porzingis met with Knicks management Thursday and left franchise officials with the impression that he wanted to be traded, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

    The meeting lasted less than five minutes, league sources told ESPN's Ian Begley. New York had several offers for Porzingis before completing the deal with Dallas, sources said.

    The Knicks will get the Mavericks' unprotected first-round pick two years after they send one to Atlanta to complete their draft-day deal for Luka Doncic, and another first-round pick that is protected two years after that, sources told ESPN's Ian Begley and Adrian Wojnarowski. Those picks could come as soon as 2021 and 2023 if Dallas does not move into the top five this year.

    The Mavericks are hoping to re-sign the 7-foot-3 Porzingis, who will be a restricted free agent, to a long-term deal this summer, and they are confident that Doncic and veteran Dirk Nowitzki can play significant roles in making that happen, a source told ESPN.

    Porzingis, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft, was averaging a career-best 22.7 points before he was lost because of a left knee injury during a breakout All-Star season in 2017-18. He also was averaging 6.6 rebounds and 2.4 blocks.

    Hardaway, 26, was leading the Knicks with 19.1 points per game this season, but New York wanted to move him because he is due $18.2 million next season and has a player option for $19 million in 2020-21.

    Lee, 33, is due $12.8 million next season. He has played sparingly this season due to the Knicks' youth movement but averaged 12.0 points as a starter last season.

    By clearing their books of those contracts, ESPN's Bobby Marks projects the Knicks to have a league-high $71 million in salary cap space this summer -- enough to attempt to sign two maximum-salary free agents.

    Sources told ESPN that Smith, a 2017 lottery pick who is averaging 12.9 points and 4.3 assists this season, had taken issue with some of Carlisle's tough coaching tactics and that the 21-year-old wasn't pleased with his role playing primarily off the ball due to Doncic's emergence as an All-Star-caliber playmaker.

    Some in the Knicks' front office were enamored with Smith ahead of the 2017 NBA draft, sources said. The Knicks instead selected Frank Ntilikina with the No. 8 pick. Ntilikina's name has come up in recent trade discussions, including informal talks between New York and Dallas about the possibility of moving Porzingis, sources told ESPN.

    The 6-11 Jordan, an 11-year veteran, is averaging 11.0 points and 13.7 rebounds for the Mavericks this season. The former Olympian and top defensive center was an All-Star selection in 2017, was named to the All-NBA team in 2016 and has twice been named to the All-NBA Defensive first team.

    Matthews is averaging 13.1 points in 44 starts for the Mavericks this season, his 10th in the league.
Working...
X