Subscribe
Follow Us
The New York Knicks rocked the basketball world after it traded away its most prized star in Kristaps Porzingis a couple of days ago. The Knicks packaged the 7-foot-3 Latvian to the Dallas Mavericks. Surprisingly, the deal did not include center Enes Kanter, who has been in head coach David Fizdale's dog house for a good string of games now.
The news shocked Kanter, as well, according to Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic.
The Knicks made a trade and it didn't include Enes Kanter. Count Kanter among the surprised.
"It was actually, yes, surprising," he said. "I heard there was a trade and I was 'Uh, oh, OK.' It just didn't happen. Gotta wait, I guess."— Mike Vorkunov (@MikeVorkunov) February 2, 2019
The Knicks traded Porzingis, along with Tim Hardaway Jr., Courtney Lee, and Trey Burke to the Dallas Mavericks for Dennis Smith Jr., Deandre Jordan, Wesley Matthews and a couple of first round picks.
Fizdale had nailed the Turkish center to the bench over a four-game span between January 23 to January 28. Moreover, with Jordan coming over in the deal, Kanter figures to lose more of his already dwindling minutes.
However, Enes Kanter is very popular among Knicks fans. With the crowd chanting “We want Kanter!” over and over, Fiz had no choice but to field him in for the first time in four outings in their home game against the (ironically) Dallas Mavericks.
The Knicks are all in on making a run for the first overall pick in next season's draft, a draft that features Duke Blue Devils star Zion Williamson as the consensus top prospect. With this as New York's priority, the coaching staff has no incentive to play Kanter out there. Moreover, they are more focused to giving the younger guys more burn and experience in the process.
Despite not including him in the blockbuster package a couple of days ago, New York is still fully expected to trade Kanter ahead of the February 7 trade deadline, as he does not fit within New York's timeline.
