Report: Mavericks will offer Kristaps Porzingis max contract
Kristaps Porzingis has yet to step on the floor for the Dallas Mavericks after they acquired him in a trade with the New York Knicks back in February, but the team is ready to commit as much money as possible to the star big man.
Shams Charania of The Athletic reports that the Mavericks are expected to meet with Porzingis at the start of free agency, and they plan to offer him a max contract worth $158 million.
Restricted free agent Kristaps Porzingis and the Dallas Mavericks will meet when free agency opens on June 30 and the franchise plans to offer Porzingis a full five-year, $158 million maximum contract, league sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 25, 2019
Porzingis will almost certainly accept, especially given that he is coming off a major injury and will not have played in over a year when the 2019-20 season tips off. The 7-foot-3 forward is scheduled to become a restricted free agent a year from now.
Porzingis has made headlines for the wrong reason on more than one occasion since the trade, but the Mavericks clearly don’t have any character concerns with him. He was involved in a physical altercation in his home country of Latvia last month that left him bleeding from the head, but the Mavericks have said he was attacked and won’t be disciplined by the team. Porzingis’ attorney also says the allegations that surfaced against him prior to that incident are unfounded.