Dallas Mavericks: 3 teams that need to trade for Kristaps Porzingis
By Zamir Bueno
Dallas Mavericks forward/center Kristaps Porzingis is likely to come at a discount
Not only would Porzingis be a good fit on the court but they can acquire him at a discounted price. Porzingis has been ravaged by lower-body injuries during his Mavericks’ tenure. Since debuting for the Mavericks in October 2019, Porziņģis has not played 32 percent of their games, missing 47 games.
His absence is primarily related to recurring right knee soreness. Porziņģis’ right knee soreness first appeared on November 29th, 2019, when head coach Rick Carlisle said he would miss practice because his knee was sore.
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About a month later, he had to exit a game versus the Lakers due to the same issue; that cost him ten games. Porziņģis was able to stay healthy for about the next two months until the NBA stopped playing due to the pandemic.
Unfortunately, his right knee soreness resurfaced when the NBA resumed playing in July 2020 in Orlando. Porziņģis had a shoving match with Marcus Morris of the Clippers during the first-round playoff series.
The altercation caused the knee to irritate, forcing him to miss games 4-6 of that series. He came back for game four but was still in discomfort. The persistent pain caused the Mavericks to send him for an MRI, where they discovered he had a torn meniscus in the right knee. Porziņģis would miss the rest of the series, and the first nine games of next season, because he was recovering from knee surgery.
Sadly, the surgery for the torn meniscus didn’t solve his right knee soreness, as he missed seven games during the regular season with the same issue. Porziņģis’ injury is only part of the issue as he is also on a max contract and is scheduled to earn over $101.5 million over the next three seasons.