NBA Trade Grades: Knicks sending Kristaps Porzingis to Mavericks

The New York Knicks have agreed to trade Kristaps Porzingis to the Dallas Mavericks. Here are the details and NBA Trade Grades for both sides.

The 2019 NBA Trade Deadline isn’t for another week, but the madness has already begun. Many knew that injured New York Knicks star Kristaps Porzingis had an uneasy relationship with the organization, but things escalated past the point of no return on Thursday.

Just minutes after ESPN‘s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Porzingis had met with Knicks officials to discuss the team’s direction, the story evolved into the front office being left with the impression he wanted to be traded. Just hours later, The New York Times‘ Marc Stein reported they had agreed to a trade with the Dallas Mavericks.

Per Stein, the Knicks will be unloading the contracts of Tim Hardaway Jr. and Courtney Lee on Dallas, while the Mavs will send Dennis Smith Jr., DeAndre Jordan and Wesley Matthews to the Big Apple. Two future first round draft picks are reportedly going to New York, and The Athletic‘s Shams Charania also reports Trey Burke will head to Dallas in the exchange.

On the surface, this seems like an alarmingly low return for a 23-year-old star in the making like Porzingis, who averaged 22.7 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game last year en route to an All-Star selection in just his third NBA season. However, there’s more to this deal than meets the eye.

Did the Knicks react too quickly and sell too low on their once beloved Unicorn? Is there any way such a move could come back to bite the Mavs, or is this the home run deal it appears? To sort it all out, here’s a look at NBA Trade Grades for both sides.