Dallas Mavericks power forward Kristaps Porzingis met with the Mavs media on Thursday and talked about how he initially thought he was going to be ready for the start of the 2020-21 season when he underwent surgery to address a lateral meniscus tear in his right knee.
However, things changed for Porzingis when the NBA decided to begin the 2020-21 season in December instead of mid-January or later, per Tim MacMahon of ESPN.
Kristaps Porzingis says he expected to be ready for the season when he had knee surgery. That changed when the NBA decided to open Dec. 22 instead of mid-January or later as anticipated at the time.
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) December 3, 2020
Kristaps Porzingis suffered his knee injury during the Mavs’ Game 1 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of the 2020 playoffs at Walt Disney World. The one-time All-Star played in the next two games before the soreness and pain in his knee forced him to sit out the remainder of the series, one which the Mavs lost in six games.
The 2020-21 season will feature 72 games. While Mavs fans are a little nervous about KP since he has an injury history, it appears Dallas is being cautious with the seven-footer.
Porzingis averaged 20.4 points, 9.5 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game during the 2019-20 regular season. He shot 42.7 percent from the floor, 35.2 percent from beyond the arc and 79.9 percent from the free-throw line as Luka Doncic's partner in crime.
Mavs supporters can only hope that Porzingis will stay healthy during his time in Dallas. The franchise signed him to a five-year, $158.3 million maximum contract during the summer of 2019.
Moving forward, Porzingis will make $29,467,800 this upcoming season and $31,650,600 in 2021-22.
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