NBA Rumors: Kristaps Porzingis Finally Breaks His Silence On Rumors Surrounding His Future With Mavericks

As quoted by Doyle Rader of SB Nation's Mavs Moneyball, Porzingis recently decided to break his silence on the rumors surrounding him and the Mavericks.

“It kind of came out and it is what it is,” Porzingis said. “I don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes. I shouldn’t be too worried about it. It can only distract me about it at the end of the day. I try to focus on being here in the moment, being here day-to-day, putting in the work with my teammates and getting better as a basketball player at the end. That’s it."

It may arguably be frustrating for Porzingis to be mentioned in trade rumors, just a year after he signed a lucrative contract with the Mavericks. However, he already knew how to handle such situations and as of now, he said that he's only keeping his focus on the things that he can control like helping the Mavericks improve their standing in the 2020-21 NBA season. 

"As I said, there’s not much I can do at this point," he said. "I’m just focused on playing, playing well, and getting wins again as a team.”

Days before Porzingis gave his reaction, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban denied the rumors that they are planning to trade the Latvian center before the 2021 trade deadline. 

In an interview with Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News, Cuban said that the reports about Porzingis were "not accurate," adding that they didn't discuss trading him at all. Coach Rick Carlisle shared the same sentiment as Cuban. He said that the organization hasn't "explored" moving Porzingis and that it intends to keep him in Dallas for the long term.

If Porzingis could stay away from major injuries, he and Doncic may still be capable of turning things around for the Mavericks in the 2020-21 season. Though they are currently out of the playoff race, they are only two wins behind the Western Conference's No. 8 seed, the Denver Nuggets. Also, the Mavericks have already shown major improvement, winning seven of their last 10 games. 

However, if they are serious about dominating the Western Conference and winning the championship this year, they might have to consider adding a third superstar before the trade deadline.