The Dallas Mavericks surprised everyone in the league when they engaged in a blockbuster deal with the New York Knicks before the February NBA trade deadline. The deal sent DeAndre Jordan, Wesley Matthews, Dennis Smith Jr., and two future first-round picks to New York in exchange for Kristaps Porzingis, Tim Hardaway Jr., Courtney Lee, and Trey Burke. Most people believe that the Mavericks gave away too many precious trade assets in exchange for a player who is still recovering from an ACL injury and set to become a restricted free agent next July.
However, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban expressed strong confidence that his team will have the chance to contend for the NBA championship once Kristaps Porzingis starts playing alongside Luka Doncic. Though Porzingis is yet to play a single game since being traded to the Mavericks, Cuban said in a recent interview with Tim MacMahon of ESPN that he expects the Latvian center to “f—ing crush it” in the 2019-20 NBA season.
“To f—ing crush it,” Cuban said when asked about his expectations for Porzingis next season. “We’re looking for The Unicorn to unicii. I don’t know if that’s a word, but that’s what we expect.”
It’s easy to understand why Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is very optimistic about the duo of Kristaps Porzingis and Luka Doncic. Before he suffered an ACL injury last season, Porzingis had been posting incredible statistics, averaging 22.7 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 2.4 blocks on 43.9 percent shooting from the field, and 39.5 percent shooting from beyond the arc.
Meanwhile, Luka Doncic is currently emerging as the favorite to win the Rookie of the Year award. In his first 70 games in the NBA, Doncic is averaging 21.1 points, 7.6 rebounds, 5.9 assists, and 1.1 steals on 42.5 percent shooting from the field, and 32.7 percent shooting from beyond the arc.
The Knicks reportedly tried trading Kristaps Porzingis to the Kings for De’Aaron Fox before last year’s draft https://t.co/fV0QPJQgBD
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) March 26, 2019
Before talking about their goal and expectations next season, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban first needs to focus on Kristaps Porzingis’ impending free agency. Though he’s currently recovering from an ACL injury, Porzingis is still expected to gain plenty of interest next July. However, as a restricted free agent, the only thing that the Mavericks need to do to bring him back is to match the offers from other NBA teams.
The Mavericks don’t seem to have any problem spending a huge amount of money to re-sign Kristaps Porzingis. According to a previous Inquisitr report, the Mavericks are planning to offer him a five-year, $158 million contract next summer.
