KEY POINTS

  • Kristaps Porzingis is clueless on whether his tenure at Dallas will come to an end
  • Porzingis prefers to play ball and worry about deals later
  • The Mavericks' concerns about Porzingis' durability are seen as a reason behind the trade rumors

The Dallas Mavericks made it clear that all talk about Kristaps Porzingis possibly being traded is untrue. But even with that declaration of team owner Mark Cuban and head coach Rick Carlisle, it would be best to never say never.

It would be unfair to judge Porzingis right now for his subpar play. The 25-year-old has been averaging 20.5 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 17 games for the Dallas Mavericks. These are good numbers, but his contributions remain questionable in the eyes of pundits.

The Latvian center said he has heard about the rumors and admits that he is in the dark, Tim MacMahon of ESPN reported. He explained that he is unsure of what was (really) going on but believes it would be futile to delve into it. Hence, Porzingis would rather focus on playing and helping his current team than worrying about a potential move out of Dallas.

Although the Mavs camp has denied any plans of a potential Porzingis trade, such is not expected to stop NBA trade rumors from growing. The NBA trade deadline is on March 25, and some insiders believe that the 7-foot-3 player is someone to closely monitor.

Any NBA team would love to add Porzingis to the mix, someone who can be of help on offense. However, a big concern is his health. He has suffered a lot of injuries in his young NBA career and missed the 2018-19 NBA season. Overall, he has appeared in only 122 NBA games thus far.

Porzingis also owns a hefty contract with the Mavericks. The Latvian player signed a five-year deal worth $158 million last NBA season, but the investment has not paid off. He holds a player option in 2023, but the fact here is that he is owed roughly $95 million from this season until that time.

With that said, it remains to be seen if there are plans to ship Porzingis in the future. For now, the Latvian is doing the right thing by focusing on helping the team. The numbers are good, and the Mavs' struggles could be due to something else and not Porzingis.

Kristaps Porzingis
Kristaps Porzingis of the New York Knicks is welcomed back after tearing his ACL previously in the season prior to taking on the Dallas Mavericks during their game at Madison Square Garden on March 13, 2018 in New York City. Getty Images/Abbie Parr
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