In the words of Ron Burgundy: "Boy, that escalated quickly."
The Knicks finalized a deal Thursday to send Kristaps Porzingis to the Mavericks in a move that happened extremely fast. At lunch, Knicks fans were enjoying their day knowing Porzingis was happy in New York and then things spiraled out of control.
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The deal happened so quickly NBA fans didn't even have time to come up with fake deals in ESPN's Trade Machine. Let's take a look at how things came together from a meeting with executives to those same executives completing a trade just a few hours later.
(All times Eastern)
1:44 — Woj reports Porzingis had meeting with Knicks
Reporting with @ZachLowe and @RamonaShelburne: In meeting with management today, Knicks forward Kristaps Porzingis expressed his concern with the losing, franchise direction and an uncertainty that a culture is developing that will enable sustainable organizational success.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 31, 2019
ESPN's veteran NBA reporter Adrian Wojnarowski also shared, "Porzingis wants to play for a winner in New York, but is searching for clarity on his future role with the team and Knicks direction. Porzingis — out with an ACL injury — can be a restricted free agent this summer."
So far, there's nothing that directly indicates a trade, but it's clear the star forward is unhappy and may enter restricted free agency. But multiple people pointed out why that didn't make much sense financially. Porzingis would be giving up guaranteed money, and it's likely the Knicks would have matched whatever offer he received.
2:54 — The apparent trade request
Kristaps Porzingis left the Knicks with the impression that he prefers to be traded, league sources tell @ramonashelburne and me. Knicks are expected to commence discussions on moving him ahead of next Thursday's deadline.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 31, 2019
Exactly one hour later, it turns out that meeting was a little more serious than previously thought.
At 3:14 p.m., Woj said the Nets, Clippers, Heat, Spurs and Raptors were among the teams interested in trading for Porzingis. But before fans of those teams could get too excited, New York Times reporter Marc Stein dropped this...
3:37 — Mavs want Porzingis
The Dallas Mavericks are nearing a trade to acquire Kristaps Porzingis from the New York Knicks, according to league sources
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) January 31, 2019
3:37 — Woj makes typo
New York is finalizing a deal to acquire Kristaps Porzingis, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 31, 2019
THIS HAPPENED SO FAST. WOJ COULDN'T EVEN THINK CLEARLY.
3:37 — Yes, we're still on this minute.
New York and Dallas are in deep discussions on a trade that would send Kristaps Porzingis to the Mavericks and Dennis Smith Jr. to the Knicks, league sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @WatchStadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 31, 2019
This is the third tweet from a third NBA reporter in the same minute.
At first, all we knew was that the Mavs were interested, but The Athletic's Shams Charania reports that Dennis Smith Jr. is involved in the deal.
3:37 — OMG HOW MUCH CAN YOU PACK INTO THIS MINUTE?!?!
The Mavericks have agreed to take on the contracts of Tim Hardaway Jr. and Courtney Lee to faciliate a Porzingis trade and are working to complete the transaction today, league sources say
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) January 31, 2019
This really shows the power of Twitter. We just got four reports on the same trade.
Did the Knicks and Mavs just put Woj, Stein and Charania on a teleconference call so they could tweet out the details of this deal in real time? Anyway, we now know that Tim Hardaway Jr. and Courtney Lee are also involved in this trade.
3:38 — More Mavs involved in deal
The Knicks would receive Dennis Smith Jr. and the expiring contracts of DeAndre Jordan and Wes Matthews in the proposed trade, according to league sources
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) January 31, 2019
3:59 — OK, I've lost track. What is this trade?
Sources: Full players involved in Knicks/Mavericks deal:
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 31, 2019
Kristaps Porzingis, Tim Hardaway Jr., Courtney Lee, Trey Burke to Dallas.
Dennis Smith Jr., Wes Matthews, DeAndre Jordan and likely first-round draft pick compensation to New York.
5:20 — There's more
Sources: Dallas' draft compensation to New York in Kristaps Porzingis deal: Two future first-round picks.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 31, 2019
6:06 — Deal is final
KNICKS ACQUIRE DENNIS SMITH JR., DEANDRE JORDAN, WESLEY MATTHEWS, AND TWO FUTURE FIRST ROUND PICKS pic.twitter.com/I40j5mEYL9
— NY_KnicksPR (@NY_KnicksPR) January 31, 2019
The Knicks decided to yell at us to announce the news of the trade.
In conclusion...
To recap: within a three-hour span, Knicks fans went from knowing Porzingis was upset (but still very much on the team), to him apparently wanting a trade, to having him off the team all together. It's pretty remarkable just how fast all of this went down and when the new information emerged.
When reading Woj's original report, it's not clear if Porzingis even requested a trade, or if he just left the team with that impression.
Porzingis: "Man, it's cold out here. Wouldn't mind getting out of town for a bit to warm up"
— Contrarian Contrarian (@basquiatball) January 31, 2019
Knicks: "So you're demanding a trade??"
KP: "What, no I didn't..."
Knicks: "Say no more! Mark, hello, yes as we were saying"
At any rate, Porzingis should pair well with Rookie of the Year favorite Luka Doncic. And as ESPN's Bobby Marks noted, "The Knicks could be staring at $74.6M in projected cap space for next season. That would be good enough for [two] max slots."
So now Knicks fans can start to Photoshop Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant into New York jerseys to ease their pain of losing Porzingis.
