Mills: No rift over KP deal

Knicks president Steve Mills said he has no evidence Kristaps Porzingis is unhappy he didn’t get his rookie $158 million contract extension at Monday’s deadline.

It was a foregone conclusion for months the Knicks would wait until he became a restricted free agent. Had they extended him, the club would have had little or no chance to open up maximum cap room next summer.

Curiously, Knicks general manager Scott Perry wouldn’t answer a direc- tion question Tuesday on whether Porzingis was happy about waiting.“We’ve been very straightforward in our communication with KP’s brother [Janis], who is his agent,’’ Mills said on a radio appearance Wednesday on ESPN Radio. “KP has a long history with us. One thing about my relationship with KP is if he’s unhappy about something or disappointed about something, he’s been very forthright about coming to me.

“Through this whole process, he’s been very excited about David Fizdale as the coach. He’s been very excited about the players, the young players we have. I watch him every day at shootaround and practice and how engaged he’s been with his teammates. I think we’re in a good place.”

The Knicks can re-sign Porzingis in July by keeping his cap hold and going over the salary cap to do so.

Starting SG Frank Ntilikina didn’t have a big offensive stat line (five points, 2-for-7) but he got the Knicks out of their early funk by hitting the team’s first field goal, a 3pointer, after they missed nine straight shots in Wednesday’s 126-107 season-opening win over the Hawks. But Fizdale heavily praised Ntilikina’s defense — noting his three steals, one block, and five rebounds. … Emmanuel Mudiay (sprained ankle), Luke Kornet and Courtney Lee were inactive.