There is a growing sentiment around the league that the Dallas Mavericks have been looking to end their partnership with Kristaps Porziņģis for over the past three months. Ian Bagley of SNY reported on February 23rd that the Mavericks reached out to the Warriors to gauge their interest on a Kristaps Porziņģis trade.
Unfortunately, they weren’t able to consummate a deal at that time. Three days later, Marc Spears of ESPN stated that the Mavericks were looking to trade Porziņģis because he was high maintenance, had a large salary, and was injury-prone.
Dallas added more fuel to the rumors that they wanted to get rid of Porziņģis when owner Mark Cuban told 105.3 The Fan, on April 22nd, that Porziņģis didn’t get along with the team’s main star, Luka Dončić.
Kristaps Porziņģis acknowledged what was going on after the team lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Clippers. Porziņģis said that the Mavericks organization was treating him like an afterthought rather than a co-star to Dončić.
Let’s take a look at 3 teams who will be in need of Dallas Mavericks big man Kristaps Porzingis’ services via trade next season.
The Mavericks’ desire to trade Porzingis creates an interesting question: what teams need his services? It would have to be a team that either needs a spot-up shooter or runs a pick and roll offense, as those are the two areas where Porziņģis thrives.
Porziņģis has excelled as a roll man in the pick and roll, shooting 46.7 percent from the field on 2.7 attempts per game. The shooting percentage has helped him average 3.3 points per game since 2015: 17.6 percent of his scoring output.
Porziņģis has combined his roll man success with his shooting skills, as he has converted 37.3 percent of his catch and shoot threes on 4.7 attempts per game. Catch and shoots have accounted for 92.2 percent of his total attempts, as he has shot 36.1 percent from behind the arc on 5.1 shots per game. Three teams fit these criteria: the New Orleans Pelicans, the Oklahoma City Thunder, and the Atlanta Hawks.
Kristaps Porzingis is an ideal big man to complement New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson
The New Orleans Pelicans have a superstar in Zion Williamson who does most of his offensive damage in the restricted area. Williamson has shot 63.5 percent in the restricted area on 13.3 attempts per game in his first two seasons. The shooting percentage allows him to score 16.9 points: 65.8 percent of his scoring output.
Unfortunately, Zion Williamson has had to work through a lot of traffic to make the most of his damage as the New Orleans Pelicans struggle from behind during the regular season. The Pelicans ranked 26th in 3-point percentage during the regular season, shooting 34.8 percent from behind the arc on 30.8 attempts.
The lack of 3-point shooting enables opposing teams to have multiple bodies near the basket to stop Zion Williamson. Consequently, he led the league in contested shots, averaging 14.9 per game.
Therefore, a player like Kristaps Porziņģis would be ideal for them as he would give their 3-point shooting a boost, and remove at least one body from the paint, giving Zion a little more space to maneuver near the basket.
Kristaps Porzingis could help solve the OKC Thunder frontcourt shooting issues.
The OKC Thunder are a team that struggled from behind the arc during the regular seasons as they were 29th in 3-point percentage, shooting 33.9 percent from behind the arc on 35.1 attempts.
Their shooting struggles were partly related to the frontcourt rotation. The Thunder started Darius Bazley at power forward for most of the regular season. He spent a significant amount of his minutes as floor spacers taking over 41 percent of his shots from behind the arc, averaging 5.2 per game.
At least 69 percent of their threes were via the catch and shoot department, as he averaged 3.6 per game. Unfortunately, Bazley struggled to make threes shooting 28.1 percent on catch and shoots. The catch and shoot struggles were the catalyst in him shooting 29 percent from behind the arc.
Bazley would end up accounting for 24.2 percent of the frontcourt attempts as Thunder’s forward only shot 34.8 percent from behind the arc on 21.5 shots per game. Consequently, they could use Porziņģis as he would give them a tremendous boost in their 3-point shooting.
Furthermore, Porziņģis is still young enough to fit the youth movement the Thunder are currently in, as he will be 26 years at the start of next season.
Kristaps Porzingis could be the John Collins replacement for the Atlanta Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks currently face an uncertain future at the power forward position. Their current starting power forward, John Collins, is scheduled to be a restricted free agent this summer. It doesn’t appear that John Collins wants to be back in Atlanta, as back in January, a report came out that he was unhappy with his offensive role.
Chris Kirschner and Sam Amick of The Athletic wrote on January 8th that Collins expressed to teammates and coaches that he would like to be featured more in the offense during a film session. Collins’ desire is partly related to him waiting for a max contract in free agency this summer.
If Collins departs Atlanta, Porziņģis would be a good candidate to take over his role as the Hawks have used Collins as a roll man and a spot-up shooter. Collins shot 54 percent from the field as roll man this year on 2.2 attempts per game. The shooting percentage allows him to generate 3 points per game in 2.5 possessions: 17 percent of his scoring output.
When John Collins wasn’t a roll man, he was a spot-up shooter as he took 27 percent of his shots from behind the arc during the regular season, as he averaged 3.3 attempts per game. 97 percent of those attempts came from the catch and shoot department, as he averaged 3.2 per game.
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.
Potential trade packages for Kristaps Porzingis of the Dallas Mavericks
The off-court circumstances surrounding Porzingis increase the likelihood that he is traded for lower caliber starters or included in a sign and trade. The Atlanta Hawks could acquire Porziņģis if the Dallas Mavericks agreed to a sign and trade involving Collins. Collins could help the Mavs as they need to improve from behind the arc and on the boards.
The Dallas Mavericks were 18th in 3-point percentage during the regular season, shooting 36.2 percent from behind the arc on 38.1 attempts per game. 3-point shooting wasn’t the only place where the Dallas Mavericks needed to improve, as they were below average in rebounding.
They were 21st in rebounding during the regular season, averaging 43.2 per game. John Collins would help the Mavericks in both areas as he has a 3-point shooting percentage of 38 percent throughout his career on 2.3 attempts per game, and he has averaged 8.4 rebounds per game in his first four seasons.
On the other hand, Oklahoma City could offer Al Horford and Moses Brown for Porziņģis. Brown could help Dallas in the rebounding department as he has averaged the same number of rebounds as Porziņģis (8.9) in 9.5 fewer minutes.
Last but not least, New Orleans can put an offer on the table of Steven Adams and Eric Bledsoe for Porziņģis. Just like Valančiūnas, Steven Adams would help the Dallas Mavericks in their rebounding department as he has averaged 9.2 per game in the regular season.
In conclusion, although Porziņģis’ value is at an all-time low due to his injury history and contract, some teams still could benefit from his services.