A report from Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report earlier this week indicated that the Dallas Mavericks are gauging the league’s interest in Kristaps Porzingis, just in case there is momentum for a potential trade. While both head coach Rick Carlisle and owner Mark Cuban have clearly stated that this is not the case, Porzingis doesn’t seem to be totally buying it.
The Mavericks’ big man spoke to the media on Friday, one day before a high-profile showdown with the Brooklyn Nets, and was asked about the rumblings going around. In response, Porzingis more or less said he wasn’t sure what was going on, saying he is completely in the dark and that he believes it would be counter-productive to think too terribly much about something out of his control.
Kristaps Porzingis on reports that he’s available in trade market: “It came out and it is what it is. I don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes, and I shouldn’t be too worried about it. It can only distract me at the end of the day. I try to focus on being in the moment.”
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) February 26, 2021
Mark Cuban and Rick Carlisle denied that Mavs had any trade talks about KP. KP didn’t seem convinced: “If it’s not in my hands, there’s no point in worrying or putting any extra thought in it. Control what I can control. At the end, it’s a business. I don’t know what’s going on.”
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) February 26, 2021
An important note from Fischer’s reporting is that the Mavericks are believed to be doing their due diligence on every player on the roster outside of Luka Doncic, which is understandable as Doncic is the franchise’s best player at a young age and it wouldn’t make sense to not try and build the best possible team around him. Whether or not Porzingis — who is in year two of a $158 million extension — is a player capable of helping them doing that is one of the biggest questions that Dallas’ front office has to answer.
Still, for now, it seems like Porzingis isn’t going anywhere, and this is a bunch of informal conversations to gauge the market. On the season, the big man is averaging 20.5 points and 8.2 rebounds in 29.9 minutes per game.
