Before the New York Knicks ultimately traded Kristaps Porzingis to the Dallas Mavericks for a package headlined by guard Dennis Smith Jr., the Knicks tried to engage the Sacramento Kings on a deal that would have brought big man Marvin Bagley III to New York, according to Marc Stein of The New York Times.
Bagley was not the only Kings player the Knicks tried to land, either. Before discussing Bagley with Sacramento, New York also tried to snare young point guard De'Aaron Fox.
Both inquiries were rejected by the Kings.
A Porzingis-Bagley swap certainly would have been interesting, and it was actually a pretty fair proposal by the Knicks. However, obviously fearing Porzingis' health, the Kings declined.
Porzingis tore his ACL last February and has been sidelined ever since, so no one really knows how the 23-year-old will look when he returns. Plus, even before the ACL injury, Porzingis had dealt with a lot of nicks and bruises, so he may very well be an injury-prone big man.
Bagley is having a very solid rookie campaign, averaging 13.3 points, 7.0 rebounds and a block over 24.2 minutes per game while shooting 51.4 percent from the floor, 24.5 percent from 3-point range and 68.9 percent from the free-throw line.
The 19-year-old, who played his collegiate basketball at Duke University, was selected by the Kings with the second overall pick of the NBA Draft back in June.
The Kings have been one of the most surprising teams in the NBA this season and are actually in the Western Conference playoff hunt.
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