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It's Clear Knicks Made Right Call Trading Kristaps Porzingis But Took the Wrong Package

By Sean Facey

A recap of the Kristaps Porzingis trade proves that they accepted the wrong trade package.
A recap of the Kristaps Porzingis trade proves that they accepted the wrong trade package. / Abbie Parr/Getty Images

A year ago today, the New York Knicks did the smart thing by trading Kristaps Porzingis to the Dallas Mavericks. The franchise needed to move on from him in order to move forward, and Porzingis has...well, not looked max-contract-worthy during his running-out-of-gas-quick stint in Dallas.

They even managed to offload Tim Hardaway Jr., Trey Burke and Courtney Lee when they sent him packing. It was the perfect reset.

But even when the Knicks do things right, they still manage to muck it up. Despite having the proper foresight to trade him, their performance as a team this year proves that the deal they got for him was a mistake.

The Knicks received an intriguing package from the Mavericks, one that included DeAndre Jordan, Dennis Smith Jr., Wesley Matthews, an unprotected first-round pick in 2021 and a top-10 protected first-rounder in 2023.

So how have things panned out? Well, Jordan played 18 games for the Knicks before signing with the Brooklyn Nets in the offseason, and Dennis Smith Jr. is showing no signs of growth, averaging a meager 5.2 points per game off of the bench. If you're going to receive a young and intriguing piece, it simply cannot be this one.

Matthews, like Jordan, defected in free agency and is now playing for the Milwaukee Bucks after a brief stint with the Pacers.

The picks they received offer little consolation. The Mavericks, led by phenom Luka Doncic, are the fifth seed in the Western Conference and seem to be in a good place for the foreseeable future.

Put simply, they'll at best land in the middle of the first round, giving them little value. They could have done so much better than the actual return.

The saving grace of the deal is that Porzingis hasn't slotted in well in Dallas at all. He's shooting under 40% from the field for the first time in his career, and his stamina remains an issue, even following the droolworthy leaks of all those summer workout montages. It seems the Knicks actually may have been wise not to allow him to clog their payroll.

However, Porzingis trade was a chance for the Knicks to jump-start their rebuild and finally look towards the future. Now, one year later, it's abundantly clear that they took the worst deal possible.