In Kristaps Porzingis' Decent Debut, He Shows How Patient Knicks Must Be

LAS VEGAS — Of all the attributes Kristaps Porzingis will need to survive, let alone succeed, at the NBA level, the one he flashed repeatedly in his meeting with the media Saturday will be as important as any of those the fourth overall pick showed on the court during his first summer-league action for the New York Knicks.

He's gonna need that smile.

"It was cool," Porzingis said after recording 12 points, three rebounds and two blocks in 18 minutes. "I had fun." 

Part of what made it fun? That the Thomas and Mack Center had its share of Knicks fans, and they were actually...supportive. After turning their backs on draft night, they had Porzingis' back on Saturday afternoon, when he took the court, touched the ball and made three of his five field-goal attempts, even though he admitted one was lucky, a prayer released after he and point guard Langston Galloway miscommunicated on a pick-and-roll. And while he said that he didn't hear the fans screaming for him to shoot, he did hear "Por-zing-is!" chants when he stepped to the line.

"That's the opposite of what I heard on draft night," Porzingis quipped, "so it was nice to hear some cheers out there." 

That sense of humor will need to be stronger than anything else he can currently offer, as he tries to turn his promise into production at such a young age. It will be tested from the start by a city that sometimes lacks a sense of perspective, because much of this experience, as he endures the expected growing pains, is sure not to be nearly as much fun as Saturday was.

There's simply no rookie in this class who faces as tough a transition as the Latvian teenager, even though he speaks rather exquisite English and is hardly unfamiliar with American culture. No rookie near the top of the draft requires as much patience in adapting to the NBA game, and yet he's the rookie who may face the most pressure, simply because he'll start his career as a Knick.

The New York fanbase is fed up with a franchise that hasn't reached the Eastern Conference Finals since 2000. None of the other top recent draftees is as widely expected to fail, and none is in a less forgiving situation, which is quite the challenging combo. 

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He'll have it tougher than Karl-Anthony Towns, who showed off his soft touch, passing prowess and shot-blocking instincts against the Bulls' summer squad Saturday and will be given time to fine-tune the rest of his game off the radar in Minnesota.

He'll have it tougher than Jahlil Okafor, because, at this stage, no one expects much of anything from the 76ers for a decade or so, especially after Joel Embiid's latest setback.

And he's have it tougher than D'Angelo Russell, because, though the Lakers may still have the nation's largest following—illustrated again by their fans taking over the Thomas and Mack Center for their game Saturday—the spotlight on Kobe Bryant tends to shroud all others in his shadow. 

The Knicks still have Carmelo Anthony, but he isn't Kobe. And, unlike many Lakers fans, who believe that a breaking-down Bryant can beat five guys by himself, barefoot and blindfolded, Knicks fans don't have quite the same belief in Anthony at this stage. So their never-ending search for a savior will lead them to overreact to everything Porzingis does, for better or worse. That's the Manhattan Multiplier. No assessments are made in moderation. 

That's what made Saturday's Knicks game against a Spurs team with only one player (2014 first-rounder Kyle Anderson) expected to make that roster more compelling than the average summer-league fare. If Porzingis didn't play well, even without any extended practice time and with totally unfamiliar teammates, you would hear the New York tabloid bugles playing "Taps" on his NBA career. 

Instead, with plaid-wearing Knicks president Phil Jackson watching from the baseline, Porzingis did just enough to stave off the "bust" label for one more news cycle, if not enough to alleviate concerns about how quickly he can assimilate. 

Still, stardom, while it may someday come, will not come overnight, and probably not over three or four years of nights either, considering the slightness of his build at this stage. That was evident repeatedly as he was easily pushed out of post position, bumped off the block, not by the robust likes of Zach Randolph or Al Jefferson but by the lanky Brandon Davies.

Davies had Porzingis sliding back across so much of the court that it looked like the rookie was trying to stand his ground on sand against a tsunami. And he needed to tap rebounds, rather than grab them, because he couldn't get himself planted when the Spurs were also crashing the boards. 

This was a concern of those who evaluated him, including one longtime scout whose team was picking in the top five but believed that "he won't be ready to do a whole lot for two to three years," and even then, "he better be able to shoot." That scout believed Mario Hezonja, who went No. 5 to Orlando, to be the better international prospect right now and probably later.

Hezonja had some electric moments at the summer league in Orlando last week. The scout certainly seemed correct when Will Cherry, a 180-pound Spurs guard, easily knocked Porzingis off his stride on a drive. (In contrast, Knicks general manager Steve Mills told Bleacher Report that Knicks adviser Clarence Gaines Jr., after a scouting trip, declared Porzingis the best player in the entire draft.) 

After Saturday's game, Porzingis said, "I've got to get stronger." But he's not sure if he needs to add 10 or 30 pounds, and it's dependent on whether he can keep his quickness and athleticism.

He does appear fluid for a 7-footer, and his defensive coverage and jumping fundamentals were advanced enough to earn him a couple of clean swats early, even if, because of all the newness, though he didn't remember all of the defensive calls.

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But he was pleased with his aggressiveness—specifically his seven free-throw attempts, six of which he made. And, in that sense, at least he didn't look scared. 

"I knew the guys were going to be physical," Porzingis said. "I tried to play the same way....You can see out there I'm fighting with the guys, even though they are 10, 15 pounds heavier than me, even more. I have never had a problem with contact. I proved maybe to some of the people that thought I was soft that I can get physical."

Of course, he will likely take harder knocks from the press and public than he did from any of the Spurs' summer squad. No international player picked in the lottery has made the All-Star team since Yao Ming did, and there have been far more busts, such as Darko Milicic and Rafael Araujo, than booms.

Even when an international player has started strong, as Nikoloz Tskitishvili did for Denver, averaging a Las Vegas Summer League-high 25.7 points in 2004, it hasn't always stuck. The forward from the nation of Georgia scored a total of 507 points in four dreadful regular seasons. 

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So, that's what Porzingis is up against—that and the memory of Frederic Weis, taken 15th overall by the Knicks in 1999, one spot ahead of local product Ron Artest. Weis never played in an NBA game and is only known for getting posterized by Vince Carter in the 2000 Olympics. 

That means every slip will inspire a back-page pun: "Poor-zingis" seems a given at some point. 

On the other hand, there is a promising precedent. Dirk Nowitzki played in his first NBA game at age 20 and was fortunate enough to start his career in Dallas, a major city, if one where the media microscope can't match that of New York.

Even so, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban scoffed at the notion that Nowitzki had it easy. Nowitzki averaged 8.2 points as a rookie and 17.5 in his second season. It was a steady climb from there. 

"Dirk didn't have any time to develop," Cuban said of the future Hall of Famer, who was taken ninth overall by Milwaukee and immediately shipped to Dallas. "He didn't know the language. People were expecting him to have an impact right away. He got drafted ahead of Paul Pierce....Yeah, he had no time to develop. As far as the Knicks, I don't care." 

Cuban has other concerns, of course, such as recovering from the DeAndre Jordan debacle. 

And there are enough people focusing on Porzingis. He said he was briefly nervous on the bus Saturday, but he told himself, in typical American style, to "chill out." 

"I was just playing hard," Porzingis said. "It wasn't my greatest game, but I played OK." 

The fans on hand seemed to agree. 

"Finally they saw me play out there," he said. "So hopefully now some of those booing fans are cheering for me."

If they are, it probably won't last long. He'll need to grin and bear it and win them back again. Maybe not immediately. But at some point down the line. 

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"It's been a little crazy," Porzingis said of the past month. "Whenever I walk out of the hotel, there's people that recognize me, want to take pictures. But I love the attention. The fans are really nice. They're not so nice on social media. But on the street, the people are really, really nice, want to take pictures, autographs. So I love the attention."

He wants to be among them. 

"Yeah, I have to be," he said. "I can't be 7'3" and just hiding and to myself. I've got to be an open person. Be nice with the fans. I love people. I think that's something that will help me in the long run."

It's a smart strategy, all this smiling.

But Porzingis may soon learn that, in not-so-patient New York, the long run is only as long as they're not yet ready to run you out of town. 

Ethan Skolnick covers the NBA for Bleacher Report and is a co-host of NBA Sunday Tip, 9-11 a.m. ET on SiriusXM Bleacher Report Radio. Follow him on Twitter @EthanJSkolnick.