A lot has happened during the last year with the New York Knicks, as the team has seen major changes throughout the organization. The Phil Jackson era came to an end, ushering in new front office personnel, a Carmelo Anthony trade, and most recently, David Fizdale becoming the team’s head coach.
All the change has made it feel like the trade rumors involving Kristaps Porzingis happened in the distant past, but at this time last year, there were questions about whether Jackson would ship him out of town. That ultimately didn’t happen, of course, but it was still a rumor-filled stretch where it looked like the Knicks might actually make an objectively bad decision and get rid of Porzingis.
One team that was linked to a Porzingis deal was the Phoenix Suns, and while they didn’t pull the trigger, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN gave some insight that made it sound like the Suns were one asset away from making a deal. Wojnarowski appeared on Ryen Russillo’s radio show and revealed that they could have possibly gotten Porzingis if they split with the No. 4 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. (Head to the hour and seven minute mark to listen.)
“Last year, I thought Phoenix had a chance to get Porzingis if they were willing to put the fourth pick in, which would’ve been Josh Jackson,” Wojnarowski said. “Looking back, at the time, I kinda thought I would have done that. If I could get Porzingis to play with, and I didn’t have to give up Devin Booker, there was no one in that draft up there that … I would’ve gotten Porzingis. But I understood they were careful, they still believe in Josh Jackson, and Porzingis wasn’t super enthusiastic about Phoenix and what his future would’ve been there. They wanna be able to re-sign him, so I get showing some restraint there.”
The Suns’ decision to not include the pick worked out for both teams, as Porzingis is now the face of the Knicks’ franchise while Jackson earned a second-team All-Rookie selection due to a solid second half of the season.
