Kristaps Porzingis: Knicks Exit 'Got a Little Bit Ugly But it's in the Past'

Dallas Mavericks power forward Kristaps Porzingis described his departure from the New York Knicks following a January trade as "a little bit ugly," but said Thursday he's not interested in reliving the situation. 

Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic shared Porzingis' comments ahead of his first game against his former team Friday night at the American Airlines Center in Dallas:

In May, Knicks president Steve Mills said the Latvia native told the team's front office he demanded a move ahead of last season's trade deadline and threatened a return to Europe if a deal wasn't made.

"He walked into my office ... and said, point-blank said to us, 'I don't want to be here. I'm not going to re-sign with the Knicks. And I'm going to give you seven days to trade me or I'm going back to Europe,'" Mills said. "So fortunately for us, that process that we talked about starting in September, we had a number of deals lined up. We started the trade calls as soon as he walked out of the office."

New York reached an agreement to send him to Dallas in exchange for a package headlined by point guard Dennis Smith Jr. and a pair of first-round draft picks.

Porzingis proceeded to publish a couple cryptic Instagram posts in which he declared "the truth will come out" and "the city deserves better than that ... My suggestion for Knicks fans is to stay woke. Peace."

The 24-year-old former standout with Sevilla in Spain missed the remainder of last season with the Mavs to complete his recovery from a torn ACL.

He returned for the beginning of the 2019-20 campaign and he's off to a solid start. He's averaged 19 points, 8.1 rebounds and 2.3 blocks across seven appearances.

Porzingis' first game against the Knicks will attract attention Friday, but the real intrigue will come next Thursday when Dallas visits Madison Square Garden to see what type of reaction he receives.