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One of the Atlanta Hawks' first moves of the offseason was acquiring Kristaps Porzingis from the Boston Celtics in a three-team trade. After a disappointing end to the postseason for the Celtics, which saw them get eliminated in the second round and Jayson Tatum suffering an Achilles injury, there was a good chance the same team wouldn't be back next season.
Pozingis had a feeling that he was going to get traded, but he had one team in mind before the Hawks swooped in.
“After the season, I spoke to my agent and kind of expected that one or more of us would be traded. For a while, I thought I might end up with the Spurs, but then Atlanta came in—and that was a nice surprise. It was out of my hands,” Porzingis said via Basketnews.
A frontcourt of Porzingis and Victor Wembanyama would have been dangerous, but luckily for the Hawks, they came in at the right time and got a key player. Porzingis will be a perfect fit for the Hawks, and he will help them to space the floor as he's one of the better shooting bigs in the league. On defense, he can provide some solid rim protection at 7'2.
Kristaps Porzingis feeling healthy going into Eurobasket tournament
During the latter part of last season, Porzingis was dealing with some health issues that didn't allow him to play at his full potential when he was on the court. He's now set to participate in the FIBA Eurobasket tournament, and he's feeling better than he did months ago.
“I feel fantastic, to be honest,” Porzingis said via Basketnews. “I took time to rest after the season. Something was lingering during the playoffs—I had fatigue, dizziness, even moments where I felt like I might faint. It wasn’t great.
“In June, I fully rested and lowered the intensity. All of that has gone away. I haven’t felt any of the playoff symptoms anymore. I feel great and ready to join the national team. Super happy.”
Health has been the biggest thing for Porzingis the past two seasons, as he hasn't been able to play more than 60 games. When he is healthy, he can make a big impact on the floor, similar to what he did the season that the Celtics won the championship. The Hawks may not give him a heavy workload, as their center rotation is solid with Onyeka Okongwu in the fold.
