Was Kristaps Porzingis hinting he’d like to return to Knicks in interview?
It’s been close to four years since the New York Knicks traded a disgruntled Kristaps Porzingis to the Mavericks in exchange for three players and two first-round picks, a deal that the Knicks easily won. Ahead of last year’s trade deadline, Porzingis was dealt back to the Eastern Conference after Washington sent Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans to Dallas.
Porzingis has missed only five of the Wizards’ games this season and is averaging 22.2 points, which is close to the career-high 22.7 points that he averaged with the Knicks in 2017-18. He’s averaging a team-high 8.8 rebounds along with a team-high 1.5 blocks per game. His 22.2 points are second to Bradley Beal’s 22.9 points per game, but Beal has played in only 24 games.
The former No. 4 pick in the 2015 draft is making $33.8 million this season and has a $36 million player option for 2023-24. The Wizards, who have lost five of their last six games, sit in No. 12 in the conference with an 18-26 record. With this potentially being Porzingis’ first and last full season in Washington with a player option looming, the Wizards could look to trade him ahead of the deadline.
No, the Knicks shouldn’t be interested, but is Porzingis interested in making a return to the Knicks?
Wizards’ Kristaps Porzingis talks highly about his Knicks stint in recent interview
Ahead of New York’s game in Washington last Friday, NBA.com released a Q&A between writer Mark Medina and Kristaps Porzingis.
Reflecting back on his time with the Knicks, Porzingis said:
"“It wasn’t perfect on either side,” Porzingis NBA.com. “But Phil Jackson was there at the time, and I’m nothing but grateful for him to have the [courage] to draft me with the fourth pick and give me the opportunity to play in New York.”"
When asked why things didn’t work out in New York, he said:
"Could I go back and do things differently? For sure, from our side. I was hurt. If I kept playing, it would’ve been completely different. I’m young and listening to people and what they’re telling me on what I should do with my career. You don’t know any better. That’s how things went at that time. I can only say really good things about the organization because I enjoyed it so much playing there in New York and playing in front of those fans.It was a dream come true. In the moment, I didn’t realize it’s not like that everywhere. New York is a special place. Madison Square Garden is the most special place I had ever played in. But at that moment, I thought it was like that on every team. I had the most fun playing in The Garden."
And finally, Porzingis admitted that he didn’t handle his departure well by saying:
"I don’t want to go into too much detail, but how things went with the communication wasn’t my style. My style would be different with whatever needed to be done. Maybe it was nothing. My style would’ve been different either way. But I was wrong. I was going with the flow."
This is a completely different tune than the one that Porzingis had before he was traded to Dallas. He was reportedly very frustrated with the Knicks for a multitude of reasons, including the team’s losing record and how Phil Jackson handled the end of Carmelo Anthony’s time in New York.
That all seems to now be water under the bridge for 27-year-old Porzingis. It’s nice to see him reflect positively on his time with the Knicks, especially given how things ended, but is there a chance that he’s hoping he’ll end up back in NYC?
As mentioned, Porzingis’ future is up in the air. The Knicks have the assets to get any player that may become available between now and the deadline, but Porzingis is no longer the star that New York is hoping to build around. His time has passed. Not to mention, it’d be horrendous to see Porzingis and Julius Randle attempt to share the floor together.
Porzingis and the Wizards will be playing in the Garden tonight for the first time this season and although the big man left the city on a sour note a few years ago, it’s clear that he cherishes the time that he spent here. That doesn’t mean that Knicks fans won’t be booing him, though. Some things never change.
