Kristaps Porzingis met with the New York Knicks on Thursday to inform the team that he wants to be traded, and his request has already been fulfilled.
According to numerous reports, the Knicks are finalizing a 6-player deal with the Mavericks that will send Porzingis to Dallas, as first reported by the New York Times’ Marc Stein.
As part of the trade, the Mavericks are receiving Tim Hardaway Jr. and Courtney Lee along with Porzingis. The Knicks will receive Dennis Smith Jr., DeAndre Jordan, and Wes Matthews. The contracts for Jordan and Matthews are expiring after the season, which would give the Knicks salary cap space, along with a promising youngster in Smith. Stein says the Knicks are also receiving draft pick compensation.
The Knicks would also receive future first-round draft compensation from the Mavericks and, by shedding the contracts of Hardaway and Lee, create the salary-cap space this summer to pursue two maximum contract free agents
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) January 31, 2019
The Knicks will receive two future first-round picks in the deal.
The Knicks will have the salary cap space needed to pursue two star players in a summer where Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson and more big names could be hitting the open market. The deal also allows the Mavericks to part ways with Dennis Smith Jr., whom they have been dangling in talks for quite some time.
The Mavericks are 23-27 and currently outside the playoff picture in the Western Conference, but pairing Porzingis with Luka Doncic gives them two young players who can become the cornerstone of their franchise. All of the talk we have heard this week has been about another star big man being traded, but the Porzingis situation came together incredibly quickly.
