Remember when the New York Knicks had more reason for hope than cap space? It was barely more than a year ago, when Kristaps Porzingis began his third NBA season by turning the basketball world on its head, scoring at least 30 points in eight of his first 10 games.
The 7-foot-3 big man was flashing the all-court skills that inspired the “Unicorn” moniker, too, blocking shots, splashing threes, and flashing improved ball-handling ability, suggesting a ceiling that suddenly seemed limitless.
Everything changed for the Knicks on Thursday, though, when the team suddenly traded Porzingis to the Dallas Mavericks for a package highlighted by Dennis Smith, Jr. that will supply the team with hordes of cap space this summer.
It's no secret what New York plans to do with a pair of max-level salary slots: chase the likes of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Kawhi Leonard, Klay Thompson, Jimmy Butler, and Kemba Walker in free agency.
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, the saying goes. Just don't tell that to general manager Scott Perry, who insisted New York is better positioned for the future after Thursday's shocking trade.
“As is standard for this time of year,we were exploring various options on potential trades,”Knicks GM Scott Perry. “Considering the uncertainty regarding Kristaps’ free agent status & his request today to be traded, we made a trade that we are confident improves the franchise.“
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) January 31, 2019
Perry, who's obviously best-served by putting a positive spin on trading Porzingis, actually makes a worthwhile point here.
If the Knicks' brass was confident after meeting with Porzingis shortly before news of the trade was broken that he would balk at their overtures in restricted free agency this summer, New York absolutely had an obligation to explore what he would fetch on the open market.
Porzingis, it's worth noting, has also yet to commit to signing a long-term deal with the Mavericks. The Athletic's Shams Charania even reported that the Latvian star is planning on signing a qualifying offer with Dallas this summer, then entering unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2020.
Still, Porzingis was New York's only tangible wellspring of hope. All other avenues toward contention, or even respectability, depended on the drawing of lottery balls, lure of the Big Apple in free agency, and development of lower-tier prospects like Kevin Knox and Frank Ntilikina.
Additional draft compensation and even more cap space as a result of the Porzingis trade indeed expand the Knicks' possibilities going forward, and perhaps heightens their ceiling in the immediate future.
But counting on cap space and draft picks to facilitate an instantaneous rebuild has been this organization's modus operandi for years, and it hasn't worked out well.
Will New York be better situated a year from now than it was before today's trade?
Only time will tell, but the Knicks' recent track record suggests that's unlikely.
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