NBA Trade Grades: Knicks sending Kristaps Porzingis to Mavericks

New York Knicks

On the surface, this seems like a major blunder for the Knicks. In a vacuum, this is an alarmingly low return for a player of Porzingis’ caliber, even with the injury concerns thrown in. No one knows how this seven-footer will return from injury after missing the final 34 games of the 2017-18 campaign and every game this season, and although the Knicks would have a better idea than anyone else, this is still a major gamble.

Matthews and Jordan are useful veterans, but they could very quickly become buyout candidates. Even if they last the whole season, more than likely, they won’t be re-signing in the Big Apple over the summer.

No, this move was all about the cap space being created, which could reach $74.6 million for next season.

Having two max salary spots this summer would make New York contenders for every big-name free agent looking for a change of scenery, especially as it pertains to star players looking to team up with their fellow stars and form a super-team.

Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Kemba Walker and Klay Thompson are just some of the names that have been bandied about over the last few months, and if the KD to NY whispers are true, having yet another max slot would make this free agency destination seem even more enticing.

However, there’s also inherent risk in selling so low on a player like Kristaps Porzingis just to clear out cap space. Not only are the Knicks taking a gamble that all their cap room will actually lead to signing KD, Kyrie or Kemba, but they also just dealt away their best building block meant to attract those star free agents.

No offense to Dennis Smith Jr., Kevin Knox or Frank Ntilikina, but they’re not enticing anyone to sign in New York. The allure would be playing in a great city, a big market, for a prestigious franchise (in name and arena only) with the cap space to still add another star. That plan is not foolproof, and could fall through if KD, Kemba and Kyrie all stay put.

There’s always the Anthony Davis angle to consider, as the Knicks have been expected to put together offers for the New Orleans Pelicans superstar. However, one of the best assets they could’ve brought to the table in such a trade is now a Maverick.

The Knicks’ biggest blue chip asset, their own 2019 first round draft pick, comes with a certain amount of risk as well. Even if the Knicks wind up tying for the best odds of winning the No. 1 overall pick, they’ll still only have a 14 percent chance. If they go on to win the right to draft Zion Williamson at No. 1, that’s definitely something New Orleans might be interested in.

However, it’d also mean giving up on the potential of having a player like Zion under team control for basically the next decade. Rookies rarely offer the same kind of immediate competitive upside that someone like Anthony Davis would provide, so although drafting Zion would be a wise long-term move, keeping him would also jeopardize their free agency pitch compared to having someone like the Brow on board already.

In a best-case scenario, the Knicks wind up drafting Zion Williamson/trading for Anthony Davis, signing Kevin Durant, signing Kyrie Irving/Kemba Walker and building around that star-studded group.

In a worst-case scenario, they have no shot at AD, miss out on the No. 1 pick, fail to make a splash in free agency as the superstars stay put and just traded away their star to undergo another rebuild with DSJ, Ntilikina and Knox as the centerpieces. Gulp.

It’s hard to fully judge this deal until after the 2019 NBA Draft Lottery, free agency and yes, once we’ve seen how Kristaps Porzingis looks next season. This whole situation escalated quickly, but if the trust wasn’t there, a trade would’ve been the ultimate outcome anyway.

The two first round picks saves this deal for the Knicks, but if they whiff in free agency this summer, all they accomplished — aside from adding a flawed point guard they should’ve drafted in 2017 anyway — is prolonging a rebuild that will hope to draft star players like the one they just shipped off to Dallas.

Grade: C