Kristaps Porzingis Escapes Trade Rumors for Now, but Knicks Drama Far from over
BROOKLYN — This should, and could have been a successful night for the New York Knicks. They got their man, French guard Frank Ntilikina, whom they selected No. 8 overall in Thursday night’s NBA draft.
Ntilikina is a 6’5” guard with quick feet and a solid outside stroke. He also boasts a 7’1” wingspan and, according to ESPN’s international basketball expert, Fran Fraschilla, a strong defensive IQ, despite still being just 18-years-old. “I think he’ll eventually be a solid NBA starter and possibly an All-Star,” Fraschilla said on Thursday's broadcast.
Adding Ntilikina to the roster will help close some of the many holes in the Knicks’ porous defense. It also gives New York another young talent to pair with Kristaps Porzingis. That could be a nice young core to build around, especially if Ntilikina morphs into the talent the Knicks and Fraschilla think he can be.
“I think the big thing that we liked about it, he’s got size. Our game is really a lot about length and about activity,” Jackson told reporters at the team’s training facility in Westchester, New York Thursday evening after making the selection. “One of the things we have to have is a defensive presence. I thought last year we started to play better defense, even though it wasn’t reflected in wins or in points scored against. But we had players that wanted to get up and be aggressive defensively and play hard. I think that’s a context to which we want to carry on this next year and this is a young man who fits that quite well.”
These, however, are Phil Jackson’s New York Knicks, and so even the sunniest days are accompanied by clouds. The cloud in this case? The growing rift between Jackson and Porzingis, New York City’s beloved unicorn.
You know the story by now. Porzingis blew of his end-of-season exit meeting. To Jackson this was a slap in the face, and, apparently, an unforgiveable one. Other teams, Jackson said in an interview on MSG Network Wednesday night, began calling the Knicks to inquire if Porzinigs was on the trade market. Jackson had no qualms fielding those calls.
That part is fine—it’s Jackson’s job to stay in contact with other general managers and keep all his options open. But then he went out his way to show that he will always have the upper hand. For example:
“I don’t think I’ve ever had a player over 25 years of coaching not coming to an exit meeting, so it hasn’t happened to me,’’ Jackson said at one point. “It happens to other people and other players. His brother and his agent have downplayed it, but still it’s a chance for a person to express themselves. I had a real good relationship with Kristaps over the last two years. It was kind of surprising.’’
For one, let’s point out that Jackson’s claim of never having had a player blow off an exit meeting is false (see: O’Neal, Shaq). Also, we could point out that Jackson didn’t seem to have much of a problem when Derrick Rose skipped town for a game without telling anyone.
The more important lesson from Jackson’s actions over the past week wasn’t really a lesson at all. Think of it instead as a crystallization of the Knicks’ most pressing problem: The franchise is being headed by a man not fit to run a 21st century NBA team.
From his antiquated offensive system to his belief that a bully pulpit is the best way to deal with today’s stars, time and time again Jackson has displayed an unwillingness to adapt or evolve. That’s what happens when you’re of the belief that you’re always the smartest person in the room.
Which brings us back to Porzingis and Jackson’s relationship going forward. Numerous reports in the lead-up to the draft on Thursday had other teams complaining about the Knicks’ asking price. Frank Isola of the New York Daily News reported that Jackson was requesting the Boston Celtics hand over a package of Jaylen Brown, Jae Crowder, this year’s No. 3 pick and the Brooklyn Nets’ unprotected 2018 pick. ESPN’s 98.7 John Gambadoro in Arizona reported that Jackson was requesting both Devin Booker and this year’s No. 4 overall pick from the Phoenix Suns.
The odds of Jackson ever convincing another team to part way with so many assets for Porzingis—a bright and talented but still unproven player—were always slim. The question, then, is why did Jackson spend the past 48 hours publicly insulting and alienating his young star?
Jackson easily could have come out in his interview Wednesday night and made it clear that Porzingis is the player the Knicks would love to build around, and that he’s willing to perform his due diligence and hear other teams out but that he expected Porzingis to remain a Knicks. That would have been so easy, and it would have brought much of the drama to an end.
Instead, Jackson elected to flame the rumor fires, all the while knowing that a trade was unlikely. Also unlikely: that this was an accident. Since taking the Knicks job more than three years ago, Jackson has made it clear that ego is his primary compass.
Kristaps Porzingis may be safe for now, and he may even have a nice running mate in Ntilikina. But as long as Jackson remains in charge, the next standoff, be it with Porzingis or someone else, can’t be far off.
Yaron Weitzman covers the Knicks, and other things, for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @YaronWeitzman and listen to his Knicks-themed podcast here.
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