Perhaps there hasn’t been a better pair of big men in a draft class since the Minnesota Timberwolves’ Karl-Anthony Towns and the New York Knicks’ Kristaps Porzingis finished one and two, respectively, in the Rookie of the Year race. A race which has started forging a lasting friendship.
The 7-foot-3 Porzingis told the New York Post’s Marc Berman he hopes the two can work out together this upcoming summer as he spends less time in his homeland Latvia.
Towns and Porzingis hit it off the week prior to the draft and in the functions after it. The Latvian had spent very little time in the United States and his counterpart was a welcoming partner, especially during the Rookie Transition Program.
“I always had a lot of questions for him about college, he had a lot of questions for me coming from Europe,” Porzingis said. “We interacted a lot. We’re staying in contact, text a lot. We always look forward to the next opportunity to play each other.”
The Latvian international continued his praise of the reigning Rookie of the Year.
“He can do anything he wants on the floor,” he said. “He can shoot from outside, drive from outside, postgame, big strong rebounder.”
As dominant a season as Towns had last year, the New Jersey native has had some difficulty adjusting to new head coach Tom Thibodeau’s high-level defensive schemes, even getting emotional in the locker room after a home loss to the Utah Jazz on Monday, taking the blame squarely on his shoulders for the team’s 5-12 start.
“All these losses fall on my shoulders,” Towns said. “It’s something I have to fix. So far this season it’s been me. Does it make sleeping at night hard? Yeah, I just have to do more. I have to play at a higher level, at a level where we can’t lose.”
New York’s favorite unicorn has also seen his defensive numbers dip from last season, but has developed incredibly on the offensive end — becoming the clear No. 2 choice on offense prior to the first quarter of the season.
His 20.9 points per game on 48.7 percent shooting from the floor are a large part of the Knicks offense, as he can hurt teams from the block as much as he can step out and knock them down from beyond the arc (39 percent).
Towns is averaging 21 points on 48.6 percent shooting to go along with nine rebounds. Both of these talented towers had good games when they faced off last season as Towns posted a 25-point, 10-rebound double-double and Porzingis had seven swats in a Knicks win in Madison Square Garden.
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