Since moving from the New York Knicks to the Dallas Mavericks in 2019, Kristaps Porzingis hasn’t played to his usual level. Porzingis has struggled to be impactful in a Mavs jersey, and the situation reportedly became so bad that he started looking for ways to leave Dallas and have a fresh start somewhere else.
During his recent appearance on Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective podcast, ESPN NBA reporter Tim MacMahon revealed that Porzingis wanted to be traded at the end of the 2020-21 NBA season. However, the 26-year-old Latvian didn’t approach the Mavs front office with this official request, believing it would make him look bad—because he had also previously left the Knicks by asking for a trade in the same way.
In the meantime, Dallas revamped their organization and hired a new general manager and new head coach. According to MacMahon, this made Porzingis rethink his commitment to the organization and is now more optimistic about his future with the Mavericks.
Porzingis finished the 2020-21 season averaging respectable 20.1 points and 8.9 rebounds per game. However, the issue was that his defense significantly declined while he also struggled with injuries and only played 43 games. His effort was even worse in the playoffs while he just managed 13.1 points and 5.4 rebounds per contest in the first-round exit against the Los Angeles Clippers.
It remains to be seen whether Dallas’ new head coach Jason Kidd can get the most out of Porzingis moving forward or whether it will become just a matter of time before the talented big man suits up for another franchise.
