Ex-Knick Burke: I think KP didn’t want to leave New York

TREY Burke, now a point guard with the 76ers, made his f irst appearance at the Garden on Friday since being traded to the Mavericks with Kristaps Porzingis, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Courtney Lee in late January.

In the week following the trade, Burke said, the four of them grew closer.

“Me, KP, Tim, Courtney, it was all four of us and we had a week to ourselves to transition to Dallas and throughout that time, we got to know each other more,’’ Burke told The Post in the Garden’s visitors’ locker room before the Sixers rallied from 16 down to snatch a 101-95 victory from the Knicks.

The loss dropped the Knicks to 4-15 — sole possession of last place in the Eastern Conference. No, the Knicks have not recovered from the trade, nor may they ever. Free agency in 2020 — with Anthony Davis loving life in Los Angeles — looks barren.

Burke, who signed with Philadelphia in July as a free agent, learned from his time with Porzingis in Dallas that the familiar story of KP marching in with a trade demand amid irreconcilable differences wasn’t as advertised.

Porzingis — who has faced the Knicks twice since the trade — has remained mum on the issue.

“One thing he did say, a lot of things the press said, he felt like wasn’t true,’’ Burke said. “He feels like there was a narrative that got out about him, he couldn’t defend himself. I don’t know if [Dallas] told him not to talk that much, but he wasn’t talking. I do think he has his side.’’

Burke said he didn’t want to speak for Porzingis, but gave enough hints that events during his former teammate’s four-minute meeting with Knicks president Steve Mills and general manager Scott Perry changed his view forever.

“I don’t think he was happy at the time,’’ Burke told The Post in the most revealing testimony yet about Porzingis’ alleged trade demand. “But I do think he wanted to stay. I think something happened at the meeting. I don’t know everything. Going into the meeting, KP had one type of understanding. After the meeting, there was a 180.

“I know once Knicks management and KP had that meeting, KP was out of New York because of what was said. I think he went into the meeting hoping, like, ‘OK, what’s the plan for next year?’ And something went wrong in that meeting and it just blew up. And that was the end of Porzingis.”

And that was the end of Burke in New York after 1½ seasons, in which he rose from G-League Westchester to become their starting point guard on opening night of the 2018-19 season, winning the point guard derby over Frank Ntilikina and Emmanuel Mudiay.

“Did it end the way I wanted?’’ Burke said. “Was

I disappointed? I was disappointed. Yes, I was mad at f irst, but I had to get over it and move on. There was more I felt I could’ve done here. At the time, there was a lot of uncertainty with the coaches who they wanted to play the majority of time at point guard.’’

Burke shook his head over the reality that the keystone piece the Knicks received in the Dallas trade (other than cap space), Dennis Smith Jr., is currently coming off the bench.

Burke, who played 17 sound minutes Friday with five points and three assists, stripped Smith on one fastbreak.

“I’ve seen that [Smith] hasn’t been playing a lot,’’ Burke said. “You look at it now. Well, what was the point of it? You traded away our Unicorn, Tim [Hardaway Jr.] ...”

“It was a new coaching staff in New York, trying to figure things out last year,’’ Burke said. “[In Philadelphia] it’s more established, the expectations are higher.

“As far as a winning culture, there’s a definite one [on the 76ers]. In New York they were trying to build one as well, but we weren’t there yet. We didn’t have enough talent at the time. We definitely had the heart. We weren’t where we wanted to be talentwise.”

The Knicks still aren’t there talent-wise after their cap space was used for role players. After sharpshooter Wayne Ellington’s corner 3-pointer wound up an airball in the final minute to clinch the loss, the look on Fizdale’s face was priceless. Just a bemused smile, as if confirming the Knicks just don’t have any closers.

“When you got guys out there like Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons out there, that’s why they make the big bucks,’’ Fizdale said of the Sixers. “Those guys are closers.’’

If Burke’s account is accurate, maybe the franchise’s future would look appetizingly different if the right things had been said at the four-minute meeting. Instead, it was another Black Friday at the Garden.

“I’ll let [Porzingis] tell his own story,’’ Burke said. “I know he still has some stuff to get off his chest.’’