Mark Cuban: Kristaps Porzingis Won't Return from Injury If Mavs Make Playoffs

After trading for the former New York Knicks star last month, the Dallas Mavericks will not rush Kristaps Porzingis back to the court as he continues to recover from a torn ACL.

"He is [still] out," Mavericks owner Mark Cuban told 247Sports' Dalton Trigg on Monday when asked if Porzingis would return this season if Dallas made the playoffs.

It has been more than a year since Porzingis last played in an NBA game, with his last appearance on Feb. 6, 2018. ESPN's Ian Begley noted after the Feb. 13 ACL surgery that the 2015 fourth overall pick was expected to be out "at least 10 months."

Following the trade to Dallas, the 2018 All-Star let it be known that the plan had always been for him to sit out this entire season.

"There's no rush," Porzingis told reporters at his introductory press conference. "I've been patient this whole time, and I'm going to keep staying patient, which is one of the hardest things for me to do. We're going to make the right decision."

Prior to going down with a knee injury, Porzingis was in the midst of the best performance of his career. The 7'3", 240-pound forward averaged 22.7 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game last season. 

Adding that type of production would figure to help a team's chances of winning games, but this is a unique situation. While likely facing a minutes restriction, Porzingis would have to work his way into head coach Rick Carlisle's system while trying to establish chemistry with his new teammates on the fly.

That would be a tough scenario for a team to deal with in the playoffs.

Then again, it's a dilemma Cuban and the Mavs may not even face. At 26-31, Dallas owns the fourth-worst record in the Western Conference and is five games back of the eighth seed with 25 games to play.

Porzingis has the ability to become a restricted free agent this summer, but Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported last month that the 23-year-old plans to sign Dallas' qualifying offer. Doing so would allow Porzingis to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2020.