After a magnificent rookie campaign for the New York Knicks, Latvian sensation Kristaps Porzingis finished second in NBA Rookie of the Year voting, behind only unanimous winner Karl-Anthony Towns of the Minnesota Timberwolves.
It was a borderline magical season for Kristaps Porzingis.
Sure, the New York Knicks might have fallen apart in the second half of the season and finished at just 32-50, well out of the playoff hunt. But for the 7-foot 3-inch Latvian, the year was so much more.
At just 19 years old, Porzingis was selected by Phil Jackson and the Knicks at fourth overall in last years NBA Draft. The reaction? Boos … lots and lots of boos.
Luckily for those same fans, the booing never fazed the quietly confident Porzingis, whose rookie campaign ranks among the greatest of all time by a Knick, behind only the legendary Patrick Ewing.
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That campaign reached its final stop Monday morning, as KP finished in second for NBA Rookie of the Year voting, behind only Karl-Anthony Towns of the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Kristaps finished the year averaging 14.2 points per game on 42 percent shooting, as well as snagging 7.3 rebounds a night and swatting 1.9 blocks a game.
Those numbers compare nicely to Towns, who was the heavy favorite to win the award after dropping 18.3 points per game on a magnificent 54 percent shooting and 10.4 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game.
For KP, there’s little to complain about here. This is a guy who won three Rookie of the Month awards, finished up at eighth in the NBA in blocks as well as fifth in Block Percentage, plus emerged as the clear future of basketball in New York.
Historically, Porzingis stacks up as one of the best rookie big men of all time and certainly in Knicks history.
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Defensively, his 1.9 blocks per game is the second-highest in Knicks history by a rookie, behind only Ewing’s 2.1 in 1985-86. His rebounding on the defensive glass is equally impressive; third all-time by a Knicks rookie, behind only Ewing and
Bill Cartwright.
From a wider perspective, KP seems like something of a game changer or at the very least, an extremely unique player.
His 81 made three-pointers is just shy of the record for a rookie big man set by Andrea Bargnani, while his 134 blocks has him at 11th all time by a foreign rookie (in the 3-point era).
Most impressive? Porzingis’ PER of 17.7 is good for 10th all time by a foreign rookie who played at least 70 games, well ahead of names like Al Horford, Dikembe Mutombo and Marc Gasol.
After one season, it’s become abundantly clear that Kristaps isn’t your average stretch-4 European that’s too soft to have any lasting impact.
This is a guy that will be a strong defensive and rebounding presence for years to come and barring any injury, looks to be the future of the Knicks for the next decade.
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Losing out on Rookie of the Year honors will sting for KP today, but he’s shown that criticisms only make him stronger and hopefully it does here, as the Knicks will need him to show improvement if they want to compete for a playoff spot next season.