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When the New York Knicks unexpectedly traded away Kristaps Porzingis to the Dallas Mavericks, it was a shock around the league. For the Knicks, though, they were afraid of letting other teams leak the news that he was available.
In his latest newsletter for The New York Times, Marc Stein answered some questions regarding the Porzingis deal and just what the Knicks were thinking throughout the process.
When answering why the Knicks didn’t try and shop Porzingis for a better deal, Stein said New York didn’t see another team willing to absorb the contracts of Tim Hardaway Jr. and Courtney Lee:
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The Knicks were convinced, having devoted much of their January to assessing their various Porzingis options, that no team out there was prepared to absorb the Hardaway and Lee contracts in addition to packaging a player of Smith’s caliber with first-round draft picks. They are now projected to have more than $70 million in salary-cap space this summer.
According to Stein, the Knicks were also afraid of letting the offer leak out, which would have allowed Porzingis’ camp to potentially scare off other teams by threatening to not sign with them:
The Knicks also were fearful that letting the Dallas offer linger, or engaging other teams in the week leading up to the trade deadline, would have enabled the Porzingis camp to scare off the Mavericks or other potential suitors by threatening to sign long-term only with teams like the Nets or the Clippers.
For the Knicks, the deal seemed to check off all of the boxes for what they were looking for. Not only did it allow them to shed multiple bad contracts, but it also gave them the possible salary cap space (nearly $70 million) needed to chase two superstars in the offseason. For the Mavericks, it was a potential gamble to pair two generationally talented players together, but only time will if Kristaps Porzingis chooses to sign a long-term deal with them.
