After slowly easing his way to the Dallas Mavericks' system this season, Kristaps Porzingis received some much deserved praise from the Mavs head coach Rick Carlisle.

The 7-foot-3 Latvian was absolutely brilliant in Dallas' rousing 111-91 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves inside the Target Center on Sunday. The Unicorn scored a season-best 38 points to go along with 13 rebounds, four assists and five rejections, all while shooting an efficient 13-for-25 from the field (52 percent) and draining six of his 14  (42.9 percent) tries from distance in 36 minutes.

Carlisle heaped plenty of compliments for the European star, who finally seems to be returning to form after missing all of last year to heal from an ACL injury.

“This is a picture of what the future of the 5 is going to look like. A guy with great length, who can shoot long-range, drive, pass, protect the rim, rebound, and know how to play the game. Stack it up, he's a great young player,” Carlisle described Porzingis, per Mike Fisher of Dallasbasketball.com.

After being the go-to guy in his first four seasons with the New York Knicks, the 24-year-old Porzingis willingly played second fiddle to the Mavs' MVP candidate Luka Doncic this season. KP had a rather slow start this 2019-20 but eventually found his groove under the guidance of Rick Carlisle.

In 47 games, Kristaps Porzingis is averaging 19.2 points, 9.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 2.0 blocks per game. Apart from his ability to stretch the floor, KP has given the Mavs' interior a big boost on defense and has emerged as the team's best rim protector.

His continued fine play will indeed be key to Dallas, who is gearing for a playoff return as they improve to 37-24 on the campaign.