New York Knicks: Still sitting at rock bottom

NBA New York Knicks fans (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
NBA New York Knicks fans (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
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NBA New York Knicks Kristaps Porzingis (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

Kristaps Porzingis

The 2015-16 season was Kirstaps’ rookie season and his challenges with the knicks started right on draft night when fans booed the Knicks’ 4th overall selection. Following such an abysmally bad season, Knicks fans didn’t have any patience for a 4th pick that was projected to need two to three years of development before he would be ready to make an impact for his team.

But Porzingis was just happy to be drafted.

And focused on changing the minds of Knicks’ fans.

Which he did in pretty short order. Porzingis scored 16 points in his NBA debut against the  Milwaukee Bucks in a 25-point win and he just kept on rolling. Coming into the Knicks’ November 17th matchup with the Charlotte Hornets Porzingis was averaging 11 points and had recorded five double-double performances. That night the Latvian rookie went off for a career-high 29 points.

The rookie’s performance was a pleasant surprise for Knicks’ fans. Historically, European big men had been a big disappointment and the Knicks had had their share of the letdown. But Porzingis proved to be the exception to the rule and Knicks fans were pretty quick to get on board. You’d be hard-pressed to find an NBA disappointment become a hero quite so quickly.

In his first three years, Porzingis would be named to the NBA All-Rookie team, win the skills challenge on All-Star Weekend 2017 and make his first All-Star appearance in 2018. He was by far the most productive draft pick the Knicks had made in a long time.

The rising star’s ascent would be slowed in his very first season by a left leg contusion that surfaced on March 5th and would cause him to miss nine of the remaining 19 games that season. And although Porzingis would more or less pick up where he left off the following season and score a new career-high 34 points in a December 12, 2016 matchup against the Phoenix Suns, after only three years he has a much too long injury history, especially for so young a player including an ACL tear that caused him to miss the entire 2018-19 season.

After he reportedly expressed concern over the team’s play and his role, the Knicks wasted no time in trading Porzingis to the Dallas Mavericks on January 31, 2019. Apparently, the Knicks’ head office left that meeting feeling as though the Unicorn wanted a trade though I can’t find any specific reports that it was more than implied. Whether reports of an alleged sexual assault by Porzingis had any bearing on the decision to move him, the Knicks haven’t said.

From Porzingis standpoint, it was reportedly a combination of things that caused him to be ready to move on after only three seasons with the Knicks including:

  • The feud between Phil Jackson and Carmelo Anthony during his second season in the league.  As a result of his feelings on Phil Jackson’s behavior, he skipped his season exit interview.
  • In response, Phil Jackson publically announced he was open to trading the best player the Knicks had drafted in years.
  • The Knicks didn’t sign him to an extension during the 2018 offseason, instead opting to wait until summer 2019 in an effort to keep more cap space open
  • All the losing