Sources: Mavs agree to deal to acquire Porzingis
Ramona Shelburne says trade talk for Kristaps Porzingis and Dennis Smith Jr. is not new and Tracy McGrady questions the Mavericks making a megatrade. (1:17)
The Dallas Mavericks have agreed to a trade with the New York Knicks for All-Star forward Kristaps Porzingis, league sources told ESPN on Thursday.
The Knicks and Mavericks have scheduled a trade call with the league office to finalize the deal, sources told ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne.
Second-year point guard Dennis Smith Jr. is the centerpiece of the package being sent to New York, sources said. In addition, Wesley Matthews and DeAndre Jordan, who both have expiring contracts and could be buyout candidates, will go to the Knicks.
Trey Burke, who is averaging 11.8 points per game this season, is headed to the Mavericks along with Porzingis and salary dumps Courtney Lee and Tim Hardaway Jr., sources told ESPN.
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There weren’t enough emojis for NBA players to express their shock when they found out New York was sending The Unicorn to Dallas.
The Mavs are also working to acquire a first-round pick to include in the deal, sources told ESPN. They owe their own protected first-rounder to the Atlanta Hawks as part of the draft-night trade to acquire Luka Doncic.
The Mavericks are hoping to re-sign Porzingis, who will be a restricted free agent, to a long-term deal this summer, and they are confident that veteran Dirk Nowitzki and Doncic can play significant roles in making that happen, a source told ESPN.
“He loves Luka and Dirk,” a source told ESPN about Porzingis, whose other option would be to sacrifice millions by playing on a one-year qualifying offer.
Earlier Thursday, Porzingis met with Knicks management and left franchise officials with the impression that he wanted to be traded, league sources told ESPN.
The Knicks did call New Orleans about Anthony Davis, but the Pelicans weren’t interested in Porzingis.
There’s been a strong disconnect between Porzingis and Knicks management in recent years, and it culminated in Thursday’s meeting. He expressed concerns on the state of the franchise and his future with the organization, sources said.
The Knicks (10-40) have struggled without the 23-year-old Porzingis, who has been sidelined for nearly a year with an ACL injury. He was evaluated in January by the team’s medical staff, which confirmed his knee is healing well.
He recently worked out with a coach on the court for roughly 45 minutes. The workout included Porzingis shooting pull-up 3-pointers and dunking.
Porzingis was averaging a career-best 22.7 points per game before he was lost with a left knee injury during a breakout All-Star season in 2017-18. He also was averaging 6.6 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game.
Porzingis and his brother Janis, who is his agent, met with Knicks management on Thursday morning and discussed his frustration with the franchise’s losing, its past dysfunction and his own uncertainty over creating sustainable organizational success, sources said.
Porzingis, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft, has wanted to play for a winner with the Knicks, but he has been searching for clarity on his future role with the team and the franchise’s direction.
Smith returned to the Mavericks lineup on Jan. 23 after a two-week absence while trade rumors swirled. While the team chalked up the six games missed being due to back soreness and an illness, Mavs coach Rick Carlisle later acknowledged that “business stuff” was behind the absence.
Sources told ESPN that Smith, a 2017 lottery pick who is averaging 12.9 points and 4.3 assists per game this season, had taken issue with some of Carlisle’s tough coaching tactics and that the 21-year-old wasn’t pleased with his role playing primarily off the ball due to Doncic’s emergence as an All-Star-caliber playmaker.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Zach Lowe, Ramona Shelburne, Bobby Marks and Ian Begley contributed to this report.