For Porzingis, a hint of Bliss in wake of

THE KNICKS dropped one of their player development coaches, but the other will remain on the staff.

Dave Bliss, who has received public praise from Kristaps Porzingis, is being retained next season by the Knicks, a team source told the Daily News. Bliss had trained the Knicks’ young players alongside Josh Longstaff, whose contract was not renewed despite being a favorite of Porzingis, as The News reported.

Longstaff’s departure leaves a void regarding Porzingis, and perhaps it’s one that Bliss can fill. Longstaff, 34, had traveled overseas to train Porzingis last summer and the Latvian’s preference was a redo of that arrangement this year. Porzingis even requested that Longstaff serve as an assistant on the Latvian national team during the European championships.

But with Longstaff curiously pushed out by Phil Jackson and Jeff Hornacek, Bliss (not to be confused with the embattled former Baylor coach of the same name) seems a strong candidate to serve as the replacement, given his history with Porzingis. Even if Bliss doesn’t go overseas, Porzingis will have a coach he appreciates.

“Going against a guy like Dave every day has been huge for me and my improvement,” Porzingis told Bleacher Report last season. “He’s big and physical with me, and that’s been the toughest thing for me to deal with since coming into the league, so we work on that every day, but he’s also always talking to me, giving me advice.

“Sometimes I get mad at him and we fight,” Porzingis added. “But it’s all good. He’s just trying to make me better. He’s exactly the kind of coach you want around.”

The Knicks, of course, would love to have a hands-on influence over their future star this summer. It’s highly uncommon for an NBA team to be so disconnected from a young cornerstone for such a long period of time (possibly five months if Porzingis