The curious case of Kristaps Porzingis continues to become a sort of liability to the Mavericks franchise. Even though his performance on the court is good, the power forward cannot keep himself fit. Constant injuries at key times make himself a risky option for teams in the NBA. With Doncic playing incredibly well, Porzingis makes a good number two but has trouble with injuries. Thus, the Dallas Mavericks are rumored to be looking to trade him off from the franchise.
By teaming up with Luka Doncic, Porzingis provides that star quality on the court. However, his struggle with injuries is unreal.
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Kristaps Porzingis was on fire with the Knicks
Considered a top prospect, he displayed his incredible offensive threat on the floor with the New York Knicks. The 7’3″ Latvian proved to be a handful for opposing defenses because of his lanky frame and smooth handling, for someone his size.
Having won a ticket to become the NBA All-Star in 2018, the sky was the limit for this talented player. But, injuries derailed his career. He missed the whole of the 2018-19 season with an ACL injury. But he moved on from Knicks to relish a new challenge with Mark Cuban’s Dallas Mavericks.
In the first season with Dallas, he played 57 games for the franchise scoring 20.4 points while averaging 2 blocks per game. Pretty decent numbers. Even though he couldn’t play the entire season, he was a dangerous threat for the Mavs in pushing for the championship. With Doncic coming in big, the duo was killing teams inside the paint, as well as, from beyond the arc. Likewise, his first three games in the playoffs against the Clippers were brilliant but injuries kept him aside, once again.
Clippers won the series 4-2.
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Injuries creep in for the big power forward
Entering the second season as a Mavericks player, Kristaps averaged 20.1 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks per game. Despite averaging similar points per game, he missed a latter part of the season with injuries, yet again. By playing 43 games, it became another disappointing regular season marred by injuries. His career never took on from there as the playoff series against the Clippers may prove to be the final nail in his coffin.
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Doncic’s performances were not enough as the team lost 4-3 to the Clippers.
After all these injury troubles, the Mavericks are looking to trade him off. Despite the talk of Jason Kidd wanting to look at him, it is better for the player and the franchise to part ways in what could have been an incredible duo at Dallas. There are talks of Toronto Raptors being interested are out in the open. But where will he finally land?
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