When the New York Knicks acquired DeAndre Jordan in the trade that sent Kristaps Porzingis and Tim Hardaway Jr. to the Dallas Mavericks, prevailing wisdom suggested that the team would negotiate a buyout with the former All-Star center.

Instead, Jordan elected to remain in New York for the remainder of the season, and the Knicks hope that he will continue to mentor some of their younger frontcourt players and provide veteran leadership.

Head coach David Fizdale said that the decision to keep Jordan on the roster speaks to what the Knicks are hoping to achieve in building a winning team:

Earlier this month, there were rumblings that the Knicks may consider re-signing Jordan in the offseason for around $27 million. However, that would drop their cap space from $74 million to $47 million, which would allow for just one max cap slot of two.

Jordan is averaging 11.8 points and 12.0 rebounds in eight games for the Knicks, but his arrival has seemed to coincide with the emergence of Mitchell Robinson.

With Jordan missing the last three games, Robinson has averaged nearly 15 points and 12 rebounds to go along with an incredible four-plus blocks per game. Robinson missed 13 games in late-December and early-January, but has really taken off with Jordan's move over from Dallas.

While the two have seemed to thrive together, Robinson's play seems to suggest that the Knicks would be comfortable allowing Jordan to walk in free agency this summer, thus retaining both of their max cap spaces.

Still, Jordan's tangible impact on this young Knicks roster and willingness to play for one of the worst teams in the NBA is admirable.