There were rumblings about the New York Knicks trading young big man Kristaps Porzingis earlier in the summer. Those rumors have since subsided now that Phil Jackson is no longer with the organization and making his willingness to trade the forward public.
In fact, the Knicks are unwilling to make the former lottery pick available in a trade for Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star guard Kyrie Irving (more on that here).
For his part, the 22-year-old Porzingis (birthday on Wednesday) is talking about potentially remaining in the Big Apple for the remainder of his career.
“So far it’s been tough in New York, but my journey is only beginning and I hope to stay there my whole career, so as a city we can have some fun and win some games and do something big,” Porzingis said, via NBA.com.
Coming off a 2016-17 campaign that saw him average 18.1 points and 7.2 rebounds, Porzingis has been critical of the direction of the Knicks. And for good reason. The team won 31 games last season and doesn’t really have anyone young to build around outside of Kristaps himself.
Add in the Phil Jackson drama and the Carmelo Anthony-related soap opera, and this is magnified even further.
At the very least, New York has one of the top young players in the Association to build around. He’s a player that appears to be in it for the long haul. That’ most definitely not a bad thing.