New York Knicks: Should Kristaps Porzingis Be The Featured Star?

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Dec 7, 2015; New York, NY, USA; New York Knicks forward Kristaps Porzingis (6) shoots over Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki (41) during the fourth quarter at Madison Square Garden. Dallas Mavericks won 104-97. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports /

The Unicorn VS. The German Race Car

The two big men have a lot on in common: they’re both tall, European, good shooters, agile, and can post up to make magic in the paint. Like Kristaps Porzingis, Dirk Nowitzki was a 20-year-old rookie. During his rookie year, the German legend averaged 20.4 minutes, 8.2 points, and 3.4 rebounds per game.

At the time, Nowitzki played under the likes of Michael Finley, Steve Nash, and Shawn Bradley, all of whom received more minutes than he. Nowitzki was seventh on the roster in terms of playing time.

Porzingis, on the other hand, averaged 8.0 more minutes per game than Nowitzki during his rookie season. That allowed him to record 14.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game.

Being the No. 3 man in terms of minutes that season, behind justCarmelo Anthony and Arron Afflalo, Porzingis was able to develop, play, and experience more than Nowitzki was able to.

A better comparable statistic would be points per minutes played. In 1999, Nowitzki averaged 0.4 points per minute, while Porzingis averaged 0.5 points per minute in 2016. Mathematically, by a slight margin, Kristaps had the better rookie year.

However, there is more to basketball analysis than math and stats.

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