The ongoing saga of Kristaps Porzingis in New York has been so fascinating to watch. While the New York Knicks don’t seem like they’re in any rush to trade their 21-year-old star, Phil Jackson has openly expressed that Porzingis is on the market if the price is right because he missed an exit interview at the end of the 2017 season.
One of the teams that has been rumored to be in on the Porzingis sweepstakes have been the Phoenix Suns. While there haven’t been any specifics, Phoenix is one of the teams that boasts a high pick in this year’s draft and a collection of young, talented players. Both of these are things that New York reportedly wants in return for Porzingis.
Thanks to Ian Begley of ESPN, we now know that Phoenix has made an offer to New York. In an update that provides news on the Suns and the Boston Celtics, Begley let us know the bounty of young assets in Phoenix’s proposed deal.
“Phoenix’s offers for Porzingis have included the No. 4 pick, Dragan Bender and Marquese Chriss, per sources,” Begley wrote. He also noted that Boston’s deal would center around the No. 3 pick and their continued efforts to land another lottery pick, reported by others as Minnesota’s No. 7 pick, to flip to the Knicks.
There is talk of Boston trying to make a deal with Minnesota to acquire the No. 7 pick. That could be part of a bigger Porzingis trade.
— Frank Isola (@TheFrankIsola) June 22, 2017
Bender and Chriss were both selected in the lottery last year, and are the kinds of talented young players that would potentially interest New York. In addition, the No. 4 pick would let the Knicks get a second pick in the lottery, one that could be used on someone like Josh Jackson (who they reportedly want) or De’Aaron Fox.
However, Begley saying that the Suns’ offers have included these players implies that this haul wasn’t enough for New York, which, considering the haul the Knicks reportedly requested of the Celtics, isn’t surprising. . Whether this eventually is enough for Jackson and the Knicks or if they’d need to add more to the package remains to be seen, but as we get closer to the start of the draft, it appears that Phoenix is one of the teams trying the hardest to bring in Porzingis.
