NBA Trade Rumors: Porzingis' History Of Injury Factored In Raptors' Pursuit

The NBA trade deadline is done and over with, and some proposed deals for several players have cropped up.

One name that took most by surprise was Kristaps Porzingis.

As most know, the Latvian center ended up moving to the Washington Wizards. But it appears the Toronto Raptors were also in play for Porzingis.

However, in a report from NBA Insider Marc Stein, it seems the Raptors backpedaled from a potential deal since they were concerned about the overall health of the 7-foot-3 cager.

In the end, it was the Wizards who pushed through with the deal because they were reportedly bent on parting ways with Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans.

For the Mavericks, Dinwiddie and Bertans could be the ideal duo that can provide resident Mavs’ star Luka Doncic a much-needed help.

As far as the health concerns tied to Porzingis, it is not really surprising.

In a previous post, it was detailed how there was a great deal of concern on how well the health of the Latvian holds up.

One of the first people to offer their criticism on Porzingis was former New York Knicks executive and multi-titled NBA coach Phil Jackson.

Renowned book author Roland Lazenby appeared on the Sports Bytes PH podcast and shared his thoughts, including his first glimpse of Porzingis when he entered the NBA in 2014.

“Phil Jackson was saying, 'well you know these really tall players, they have health issues.' They always have pretty often these injury problems. And everybody was going ‘what is Phil Jackson saying that for?’ Phil could really throw a wrench with his mind games,” Lazenby bared.

Porzingis struggled through injuries since entering the league as he struggled to finish a season.

That happened with the Knicks and Mavericks, and it remains to be seen if the trend will continue in Washington.

Regardless, Porzingis has a great opportunity to start fresh with the Wizards although he needs to make adjustments. That includes making sure that he stays away from injuries to prevent his stick from dipping.

“So Washington gives him a place to start over. Washington is a different place. It almost has a different value system. It will be interesting to see because Porzingis is a fine shooter and I think it will be interesting to see if his game shifts and where it shifts,” Lazenby shared.