According to a tweet from SNY's Ian Begley, the Knicks are among a handful of teams that are interested in Israeli forward-center Roman Sorkin, who spent last season playing in the Euroleague with Maccabi Tel Aviv. While Sorkin is certainly intriguing, the signing would be a nightmare for second-year center Ariel Hukporti, who is hoping to compete for playing time this season.
Sorkin has been a standout this summer in Eurobasket, where he has averaged 16.5 points for Israel. Last season, he took a significant leap for his club team, averaging 12.9 points while starting 23 games. The Knicks have already added Guerschon Yabusele to their frontcourt this offseason as well.
Hukporti could see his chance of playing get slashed
In his rookie campaign, Hukporti didn't see much meaningful action. He appeared in just 25 games for New York last season, averaging 1.9 points, 2 rebounds, and 0.6 blocks in just under nine minutes of action per game.
This season, there was a chance the Hukporti could have actually gotten some minutes. While yes, the frontcourt depth chart is crowded ahead of him, Mitchell Robinson will likely be on some sort of game restriction, be it sitting out back-to-backs or something else.
In those situations, Hukporti could have received an opportunity to showcase his skills outside of just end of game garbage situations. However, if they add another talented big to the mix, that opportunity could vanish.
What would it mean for Mitchell Robinson
The other piece of this puzzle is that Robinson still hasn't received a contract extension from the Knicks. He has suffered his fair share of injuries over the years, and the Knicks could view him as too risky to lock down long term, in a deal that would likely take the Knicks into the second apron.
It's possible that the reason the Knicks want another big is because they don't envision giving Robinson that deal and hope to ultimately flip him at some point during the season. If that is the case, adding another big still hurts Hukporti's chances of stepping into a bigger role.
Hukporti has plenty of potential. He has good hands and projects to be a strong lob threat with his great athleticism, as well as a good roller out of the pick-and-roll. He is a strong defender and rebounder as well, and has admitted he has modeled his game after Robinson's, in terms of doing all of the little things required to win.