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Kristaps Porzingis trade rumors: 5 teams that should trade for Knicks’ star

By Gerald Bourguet

Dec 20, 2016; New York, NY, USA; New York Knicks forward Kristaps Porzingis (6) during a break in action in the second half against the Indiana Pacers at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 20, 2016; New York, NY, USA; New York Knicks forward Kristaps Porzingis (6) during a break in action in the second half against the Indiana Pacers at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports /
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Kristaps Porzingis trade rumors
Dec 9, 2016; Sacramento, CA, USA; New York Knicks forward Kristaps Porzingis (6) against the Sacramento Kings during the second quarter at Golden 1 Center. The Knicks defeated the Kings 103-100. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports /

4. Sacramento Kings

The Sacramento Kings have the No. 5 and No. 10 overall selections in this year’s draft, and it’s no wonder people have speculated about whether they’d package those picks to move up in the draft. As one of the NBA’s most dysfunctional franchises, Kings fans are just holding their breath, hoping their team doesn’t transform into the KANGZ that continually mess things up.

The Kings might be better off keeping their picks, ideally using No. 5 on De’Aaron Fox and No. 10 on someone like Zach Collins, Luke Kennard, Lauri Markkanen or Donovan Mitchell.

That being said, the Kings might have the assets to pull off a deal, even if their offer wouldn’t stack up to the other four teams on this list.

A Porzingis trade starts and ends with Willie Cauley-Stein, who is Sacramento’s most desirable trade asset. The Knicks would probably ask for Buddy Hield, while including Marshall Plumlee for salary-matching purposes.

WCS is no Porzingis, but he’s a versatile defender who played extremely well following the DeMarcus Cousins trade, averaging 12.9 points, 8.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.1 steals and 0.9 blocks per game on 50.4 percent shooting.

Hield showed great signs of promise after being shipped to Sacramento, averaging 15.1 points and 4.2 rebounds per game on .480/.428/.814 shooting splits in 25 games. In addition to these two, the Knicks pocket another two top-10 selections, giving them five promising young players to replace KP with.

New York could make that six if it asked for Skal Labissiere and Malachi Richardson instead of Hield:

In this deal, the Kings are giving up two players in their frontcourt, but get to keep Hield and bring a legitimate franchise player — which WCS, Hield and Labissiere are not — into the fold.

Richardson is a 21-year-old wing who could be a decent role player one day, while Labissiere averaged 10.8 points and 6.0 rebounds per game on 54.1 percent shooting after the Boogie trade.

If that didn’t work, Sacramento could try adding Malachi Richardson to the first package of WCS, Hield, No. 5 and No. 10.

This is a lot for the Kings to give up in all three scenarios, but the signs of life that Cauley-Stein, Hield and Labissiere showed after the All-Star break are as likely to be flashes in the pan as they are legitimate signs of potential. This group banded together following that star trade moved Cousins to New Orleans, and that us “against the world” effect could easily wear off by next season.

Trading for Porzingis, even if it means sacrificing multiple young players and draft assets, is the price you pay if those players are unproven and a franchise star like Porzingis is on the line.

However, since that’s a steep price, Sacramento may prefer to just stay the course and keep its two picks this year to supplement a burgeoning core.