A year ago, Kristaps Porzingis was a relatively unknown name within the United States. Twelve months later, the 20-year-old Latvian big man is being hailed as the biggest building block for the future of one of the NBA’s flagship franchises.
Newly tabbed Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek believes the sky is the limit for his young big man.
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"You don't see a guy 7-3 that can do multiple things," Hornacek said in his introductory press conference Friday. "In our offense, you could see him in some high pick-and-rolls out of the sets we have, fading for 3s. At 7-3, I still believe you can get him on the post and if a team want to try and play him with a small guy and get up into him, then we can throw him down there and take advantage of his height in there."
Porzingis exceeded all expectations last year, averaging 14.3 points, 7.9 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game in 72 games (all starts). Hornacek thinks that’s just the tip of the iceberg for the fourth overall pick in last year’s NBA Draft.
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"When you have a guy at 20 years old and see what he can do already, there's going to be high expectations, and we're going to help to push him to get to those levels," Hornacek said. "We know he will be, because if you can do that at 19 or 20 — most of the guys in this league really come into their own in the 24-, 25-, 26-year-old-range, so he's got such a bright future that it's going to be off the charts for him."
Hornacek signed a three-year deal to coach the Knicks, so he'd better hope that "bright future" is in the near future as he attempts to turn around a team that went 32-50 last season for its third straight losing season.