Porzingis Is Actively Damaging The Dallas Mavericks.
Kristaps Porzingis was brought to the Dallas Mavericks in 2019 from the New York Knicks in a trade for Dennis Smith Jr., DeAndre Jordan, Wesley Matthews, a 2021 and 2023 First-round pick. The Mavericks did not have to give up much to acquire a player in Porzingis who when healthy is the perfect complement to their young superstar Luka Doncic.
However, he is rarely able to stay healthy for an elongated period of time. The 7’3 Center has yet to play in over 66 games since his rookie season. With the mavericks he has yet to reach 60, missing the entire 2018-2019 season due to injury. The following season he spent most of it healthy but dealing with load management and in the first round of the Playoff’s he suffered a meniscus tear that kept him out the first nine games this season.
Porzingis is relatively young at 25 years old. But he has suffered a multitude of lower-body injuries in a short span. It’s evident that these injuries have impacted him as a player and even when healthy this season he is not the player that the Dallas Mavericks believed they were getting. After his latest game where he went 3/14 from the field and 1/7 from three while being a minus 24 in 38 minutes. It’s time to start questioning whether Porzingis is actually hurting the Mavericks more than helping them.
Porzingis is Actively damaging the Mavericks with his Play his season.
The Mavericks gave up two first-rounders and inked Porzingis to a max deal worth 158 million over 5 years. This was under the impression that Porzingis would ascend to a Star level justifying the assets and cap space they sacrificed to acquire him. While Porzingis isn’t a terrible player currently averaging 20.5 PPG, 9.4 RPG, and 1.5 BPG on the season. His inconsistency in appearances on the court and his inconsistency with his play on the court are some of the main reason’s why the Mavericks are struggling this season as the 7th seed. This team was projected to take a leap into the upper echelon of NBA teams this year but instead, they may find themselves in the play-in tournament much to the dismay of their owner Mark Cuban and Star Luka Doncic.
Porzingis has become over-reliant on his Jump shot that is often prone to streakiness. In past months like February where he shot 28% on 6 attempts from three a game or currently in April where he is shooting 32.6%. on 6 attempts per game his jumper completely abandons him but it doesn’t stop him from forcing it. The comparison’s to Dirk have faded away as Porzingis has shown he has no ability to create his own shot in the post or around the rim. He has no interest in taking advantage of mismatches down low which takes away from what could be a dynamic Mavericks offense.
Kristaps also hasn’t progressed as the elite shot blocker and rim protector he was advertised as during his rookie year. He is currently averaging career low’s in both blocks per game and block percentage. One look at Porzingis on defense and you’ll see that the lower body injures have definitely impacted his lateral quickness and jumping ability.
Will The Mavericks Look to Move on From Porzingis
Porzingis is often injured when the Mavericks need him the most like in the 2020 playoffs and he even has shown he has a temper problem getting tossed from important games. So if the Mavericks can’t rely on him to be a star player producing night after night they have a problem because he is seriously causing damage to this team. The Mavericks are moving backward from last season instead of building upon it and with Porzingis locked in for the next four years if they don’t feel he is the answer it may be best to move on. He is only a +19 on the entire season much lower than teammates Maxi Kleber and Dorian Finney-Smith who only make a fraction of Porzingis’ salary.
There were already reports that the Mavericks looked to gauge interest in the trade market for Porzinigs this past trade deadline. While they denied the report I’m sure there is some truth to the matter that they are starting to second guess their decision to make Porzingis a long-term building block for the future. If he is subpar down the stretch and the Dallas Mavericks potential miss the playoffs, The once touted Unicorn may find himself on a new team next year.
