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New York Knicks big man Kristaps Porzingis is set to hit free agency for the first time in his career this coming summer, and even though he is currently sidelined with a torn ACL, there will certainly be a long line of potential suitors for the 23-year-old.
However, Porzingis can land a max contract of four years worth $122.4 million, and for a 7-foot-3 center coming off of a major knee injury, it remains to be seen how many teams will be willing to meet that price.
Of course, that won't stop clubs from checking in, as there could be a scenario where Porzingis does not even earn a maximum deal.
So, let's go over a few teams that will represent Porzingis' best possible landing spots in free agency:
The Spurs are already rumored to be interested in Porzingis, which should just tell you how much Gregg Popovich and Co. like him. Aside from LaMarcus Aldridge during the summer of 2016, pursuing big-name free agents is just not something the Spurs do, as they are a franchise that prefers to build through the draft and make shrewd signings and trades.
But imagine Porzingis in San Antonio for a minute. Just think of what Popovich can do for him, and just picture how lethal of a frontline Porzingis and Aldridge would be. How do you guard that? Both guys can score in the post and both guys can space the floor. It would be an absolute nightmare for opposing defenses.
Then you have to take into consideration the defensive impact that Porzingis would have on the Spurs, as Porzingis is one of the best defensive big men in the league. As a matter of fact, as supremely talented as Porzingis is on the offensive of the floor, his defense might even be better than his offense.
San Antonio has some nice young pieces like Dejounte Murray (who is out for this season), Bryn Forbes, Derrick White and Lonnie Walker, but it does not currently have a true franchise player on its roster moving forward. Porzingis would represent that for the Spurs.
How sick would a duo of Porzingis and Luka Doncic be?
With the Mavericks officially getting ready to move on from the Dirk Nowitzki era, they will need another big man to take them forward for the future.
Porzingis could be that guy.
Right now, outside of Doncic, Dallas does not have a lot of young talent on its roster. It has young guys, but not young talent. That is especially true in the frontcourt, where DeAndre Jordan is really the only player the Mavs have, and Jordan is 30 and could very well move on in free agency in the offseason after signing a one-year pact this past summer.
While the Mavericks do appear to have a potential franchise player in Luka, they need another guy going forward to pair with him. I don't know about you, but a pick-and-roll tandem of Doncic and Porzingis sounds awesome to me.
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Let's also not forget that Porzingis would have Nowitzki to mentor him on the offensive end.
The Clippers will likely be after bigger fish this offseason (like a Kevin Durant-Kawhi Leonard duo, for example), but should they miss out on their prime targets, Porzingis would be a pretty fine alternative.
Right now, Los Angeles has a bunch of B-level and C-level talents, which is fine; you need those kinds of guys to win, but it is missing its star player.
Yes, Tobias Harris is a nice scorer, but if he is your No. 1 option, you aren't going to contend. You also have to love the game of Montrezl Harrell, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander certainly looks to have some potential as evidenced by his impressive shooting percentages.
That is all well and good, but that group isn't winning any titles moving forward, and I'm sure Doc Rivers and the Clippers' front office understand this.
The good news for the Clips is that they will have a ton of cap space this coming summer and should be able to land someone.
New York Knicks
And that brings us to the team that Porzingis will likely begin the 2019-20 campaign with: the New York Knicks.
Remember: the Knicks can match any offer that any team throws at their prized young Latvian, and it's hard to imagine a scenario in which New York doesn't match.
Even if a team like the Spurs offers Porzingis the full max, the Knicks would still probably match. After all, we are talking about a generational talent here, injury issues aside.
For the first time in almost two decades, New York is actually in pretty good shape moving forward. The Knicks actually have all of their draft picks for a change, and they are going to have cap space this summer, a welcome change from the days of Shandon Anderson.
New York also has a plethora of young talent on its roster, with names such as Kevin Knox, Allonzo Trier, Frank Ntilikina, Mitchell Robinson and even Tim Hardaway Jr.
Throw a healthy Porzingis in the mix, and the Knicks actually have a solid foundation to build upon for the future.
Porzingis belongs in New York. It just seems like fate.
