Face It, New York Knicks and Kristaps Porzingis Are Stuck with Each Other

If only there was an emoji for a dumpster fire that we could break out whenever the New York Knicks monopolize headlines out of turn.

The latest in Knicks Knicks-ing: Kristaps Porzingis tweeted, then deleted, "LA Clippers" followed by three successive smiley face emojis:

Or rather, we should say "Porzingis' Twitter account," not the 21-year-old himself. He maintains this was the work of a diabolical hacker—a binary sadist existing only to pollute the social media accounts of professional athletes with germane snark.

One of Porzingis' representatives told ESPN.com's Ian Begley the Knicks forward-who-should-be-a-center was asleep at the time of the 16-character security breach. His older brother, meanwhile, told Begley his sibling wants to stay put. Porzingis even relayed a screenshot of his most-used emojis to prove his innocence:

This incident speaks to the mass of dysfunction that is the Knicks. Even when they're not playing, even when they're not trying to, they devolve into a laughingstock.

And yet, because these are the Knicks, and because Porzingis is one of them, we have to ask: Is there any truth to this sham? Must fans be worried about Porzingis being traded to the Clippers? About New York moving him at all?

It would be easier to ignore emoji-gate if Porzingis and the Knicks weren't already on rocky terms. He told reporters of organizational confusion from "top to bottom" after a March 12 loss, then reinforced that slant at season's end by ghosting his exit interview with team president Phil Jackson.

This prompted multiple enquiries from outside suitors into his availability, according to Begley. Once again, on its face, this is comical. But amusement dwindles after harkening back to what Jackson said at his year-end media availability, per the Record's Steve Popper:

Also of note: Jackson's presser doubled as an assault on Carmelo Anthony's place with the team. He deflected blame for the Knicks' lost season while repeatedly pointing out the team hasn't won with the All-Star forward.

Anthony responded afterward via Instagram, because this is 2017, and these are the Knicks, and sub-shade is a way of life. Porzingis, of course, "liked" the post:

His support comes as no surprise. The Knicks are an abject disaster, in large part thanks to Jackson's raging incompetence, and Porzingis has on more than one occasion stressed the importance of having Anthony around him. 

That he or his hacker tweeted about the Clippers, of all teams, tracks with all of this. They are the most popular Anthony destination and, as of April, still believed they could trade for him this summer, according to Begley. If Porzingis wasn't hacked, his decision to talk about them is significant—even if his reference wasn't meant for public consumption.

Related: Porzingis' Twitter probably wasn't breached.

Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

Maybe this was a direct message gone wrong. Abigail Ratchford, the 25-year-old model who has been identified as a friend of young Kristaps, tweeted basically the same thing. Whatever it was, the idea that a hacking mastermind carried out this deed feels like a smokescreen.

"More to the point, no hacker would do this," The Ringer's Jason Concepcion wrote. "Listen, I’m not an expert. If I was, I’d be on a beach in Cyprus right now, laughing a supervillain laugh, and living a life of leisure off my ill-gotten gains. But, no. I’m just a person with a phone and a computer and online banking and several social media accounts who reads the news. I find it hard to believe that a hacker or hacking group would endeavor to take over a young millionaire athlete’s social media account just to tweet the name of a team that he has been linked with in trades rumor instead of, like, raiding his phone for d--k pics and credit card numbers."

It's similarly difficult to understand Porzingis' end game if he was, in fact, the keyboard warrior behind this ruse. Was he relaying rumors he heard about himself? About Anthony? Was he trying to leverage the Knicks into moving him? 

If it's the latter, Porzingis is fighting a futile battle. He can send the Knicks into self-reflection by bailing on a meeting, but he doesn't have the clout to force a trade.

There are two years left on his rookie-scale deal, after which time he'll become a restricted free agent (assuming he doesn't sign an extension after Year 3). To control his own fate, he would, at that point, have to leave 10s of millions of dollars on the table to sign his qualifying offer, play out his fifth year and reach unrestricted free agency...in 2020.

Any serious trade talks would have to be initiated by the Knicks. And while the notion of offloading the franchise's most important player since Patrick Ewing is deplorable, they're not above it.

Jackson has two years left on his contract and is on a mission to liberate his beloved triangle offense from the confines of the early 2000s. He no longer has the time to work through resistance. It's easier to displace it. 

Even then...the Clippers? Their best offer for Anthony, a soon-to-be 33-year-old on the decline, will be underwhelming at best. There is only one feasible scenario in which they successfully poach a player of Porzingis' value from New York: a Blake Griffin sign-and-trade.

Twenty-nine of 30 general managers/presidents would balk at the framework of a deal that sends Anthony and Porzingis to Hollywood for a return headlined by the 28-year-old, injury-prone Griffin. The lone exception might be in New York.

Griffin's back-to-the-basket moves and passing ability make him an ideal fit for the triangle. Where Porzingis is more outside-in, Griffin's inside-out. Jackson might appreciate that—the same way he reveled in Porzingis eschewing three-pointers during his regular-season finale.

Andrew D. Bernstein/Getty Images

But there's a fundamental flaw in this theory: Sign-and-trades require three sets of approval. There's the Knicks and Clippers, and then Griffin himself. There's no financial incentive to these deals anymore. Griffin cannot get a fifth year, so he genuinely must want to play for the Knicks.

And why would he want to do that? They're a billboard for disorder, and the most appealing reasons to play for them, Anthony and Porzingis, would be shipped to the team he's leaving.

To the Knicks' credit, if they were shopping Porzingis, they could do much better than this, and they know it.

Perhaps the Denver Nuggets dangle their best assets for a chance to pair Porzingis with Nikola Jokic. Maybe the Boston Celtics give up a Brooklyn Nets pick and something/someone else. Would the Phoenix Suns trade Dragan Bender and this year's pick? Do the Los Angeles Lakers build an offer around whomever they select (if they keep the pick) and/or one of their youngsters?

For as much as Jackson is trying validate himself and his ideals now, even he has to realize Griffin is hardly the ceiling on a Porzingis trade. Anthony would probably already be in Los Angeles if Jackson was willing to entirely undercut the value of his best assets.

In all likelihood, then, this Twitter mishap is nothing more than noise. The Knicks do not have a Clippers problem.

They have a Porzingis problem of their own design.

They shouldn't be here, barely two years into his career, the subject of his silent rebellion. They've failed him by fostering an environment so toxic he deems his freeze-out necessary. 

Worst of all, they've done nothing under Jackson to prove they can win back Porzingis' trust, suggesting this war of attrition will drag on, past the summer and into the season, absent a meaningful resolution or middle ground.

Dan Favale covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter (@danfavale) and listen to his Hardwood Knocks podcast co-hosted by B/R's Andrew Bailey.

Stats courtesy of Basketball Reference or NBA.com. Team salary and player contract information via Basketball Insiders.