Knicks are taking a new approach with Porzingis
While the Knicks’ front office contingent, accompanied by new head coach David Fizdale, have descended on Chicago to scour the Draft Combine for help, perhaps the most noticeable difference from a year ago - besides everyone staying awake - has been the very public courting of their own players.
Fizdale has spoken about his plans to head overseas to spend time with Kristaps Porzingis and he stepped out of the combine to visit with Enes Kanter face to face Wednesday.
It’s a markedly different strategy than last summer when, in his final days running the Knicks, Phil Jackson went on the Knicks own network and openly talked about the possibility of trading Porzingis.
“We’re getting calls,” Jackson said last June. “As much as we value Kristaps and what he’s done for us, when a guy doesn’t show up at an exit meeting, everybody starts speculating on the duration or movability from a club. We’ve been getting calls. We’re listening. But we’re not intrigued yet at this level, as much as we love this guy we have to do what’s good for our club.”
That, after four seasons of struggles, effectively brought an end to Jackson’s tenure as Knicks president. He lasted a few more days, making the lottery pick of Frank Ntilikina, but with odd and acrimonious relationships with the two most important players on the roster, Porzingis and Carmelo Anthony, Jackson was finally pushed aside by Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan.
For 11 months he’s remained silent, no angry typo-filled tweets, no questioning the analytics of the game. And maybe it’s worth revisiting his final act and whether he was right.
At the time, asked why he would consider trading the one young star on his roster, besides the contentious relationship that prompted Porzingis to head to Latvia without attending his exit meeting, Jackson explained, “Future. What it brings. Does it bring us two starters and a draft pick? Or something even beyond that? That is something we look at. We know what he is. He’s a unicorn and he’s special.”
Porzingis still is something special, an immensely talented 22-year-old with a unique skillset, measuring 7foot-3 and able to shoot from distance, putting the ball on the floor unlike anyone his size. With Anthony traded, he came out of the gates freed - averaging 30.4 points over the first 11 games, topping 30 points eight times, on 51.3 percent shooting and better than 40 percent from 3-point range.
He managed to average 22.4 points for the season, but his season ended on Feb. 6 when he suffered a torn ACL as he came down awkwardly against the Milwaukee Bucks and their unicorn, Giannis Antetokounmpo.
As he rehabilitates back home, Fizdale is wisely building a relationship because even if he isn’t pushing him out the door like Jackson was discussing, the Knicks and Porzingis have huge decisions to make.
While his value is uncertain after this major injury, there is a number to place on it now - eligible for a five-year, $157 million contract extension this summer. That puts both parties in a strange place.
It would benefit the Knicks to put the extension off until next summer, keeping additional money free for what the franchise figures to be the chance to pounce on help in the free agent market. But it could alienate Porzingis if he adds insecurity and doubt to an already strained relationship.
So Fizdale will try to ease that tension, continuing a process that began with the efforts of team president Steve Mills and general manager Scott Perry.
“I want him to feel something different,” Fizdale told reporters in Chicago. “I want him to feel something that when he comes back here it’s going to be special for him. He’s walking back into a culture and environment that’s set up for winning. That’s my biggest goal this summer is to really bond with him and connect with him and get insight from him: His experiences, what he liked, what he didn’t like, what he’d like to see, what’s his goals? Does he see himself as a guy who can be MVP one day? Defensive Player of the Year? I want to hear all that stuff and share with him my vision on how to get him there.”
Porzingis is certainly still the most important piece to the Knicks’ future. What that future holds is the mystery. And maybe so is whether Jackson would have been right to move him at top value. Forget the Warriors and Rockets. Watch teams in the Knicks’ own division - the Celtics and Sixers - and see how far the Knicks are from catching up to them.
Can a lottery pick this summer, maybe another lottery pick after next season when Porzingis could possibly miss the entire season, and a couple of free agents get them there?
Maybe Jackson will tweet that answer.