NBA Rumors: There are whispers that Kristaps Porzingis wanted out of New York because he didn’t want to play second fiddle; is it believable?
The New York Knicks have big plans for the summer of 2019, which is now just a few months away. It’s a free agency period that many teams, including the Knicks, have had circled for quite some time.
And for the last two years, Kevin Durant has been at the center of the craziness. Teams have aligned themselves cap-wise to, at the very least, have a somewhat reasonable shot at landing a big-name free agent.
Possibly Durant.
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However, there’s one team that has clearly gone all-in on KD. And that is the Knicks, who in someways decided to use Kristaps Porzingis as a way to clear enough cap space to sign Durant – and a max friend.
In some ways, it may seem odd that the team elected to move Porzingis who, when healthy, is one of the most unique basketball players for his size. Though, there might be more than just using Porzingis as a sweetener in order to get the cap-clearing move done.
According to ESPN’s Zach Lowe, it’s pretty clear that KP wanted to be more than just a second – or possibly even third – fiddle in New York. Which is interesting, and possibly gives us a bit more to what really went down the day he was moved to the Dallas Mavericks ahead of the NBA Trade Deadline.
Lowe on Porzingis wanting out:
— The Knicks Wall (@TheKnicksWall) February 22, 2019
“I don’t think he was psyched about playing with Durant. I don’t know how directly that was verbalized to the Knicks, but I’m confident that it wasn’t something that was his Plan A, he wanted to be the face of the franchise.” https://t.co/s4VJoxICrQ
It’s really tough to sort out all the reports that are out there regarding this deal that just seemed to come out of nowhere.
And we may never get the clarity we may be seeking, but if the Knicks are able to land another big-name during the summer – possibly even Kevin Durant – and if Porzingis becomes a star for the Mavs then perhaps we may never need to get the real story.
Hopefully this move works out for both sides.