Kristaps Porzingis – Dallas Mavericks
Trading a player with a $35M contract is never easy to do, even if he is a 7x All-Star and one of the best guards in the league, but it is a lot easier to trade a player like this if the team can find a contract that matches his.
Looking at the Dallas Mavericks, they are looking for ways to get Luka Doncic some more help and they have a guy in Kristaps Porzingis who is owed $31.6M this season and has been a liability for them over the years.
Since joining the Mavericks, Kristaps Porzingis has averaged 20.3 points, 9.2 rebounds, 1.7 blocks and has shot 36.2% from three-point range, making him an intriguing option to replace Kyrie Irving on the Nets’ roster.
Seeing as they have Patty Mills, Bruce Brown, and rookie Cameron Thomas as backcourt options, Brooklyn would not necessarily have to target another guard if they were to trade Irving.
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Bringing in Porzingis beefs up the Nets’ frontcourt scoring and this move would give them one of the tallest players in the league. Kristaps Porzingis is 7’3” and while he has been known to play on the perimeter rather than in the low-post, guys like Kevin Durant and James Harden could make sure he knows his role on this team.
Putting the Latvian big man down low not only allows the Nets to be a much better scoring team in the paint, but Kristaps Porzingis can create plenty of second-chance points for this team.
The last thing teams want to happen when playing Brooklyn is for Durant and Harden to have another chance to score after missing a shot, which is why the Mavericks’ big man is not necessarily a bad option for the Nets to consider.
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His contract is not too favorable, as he is owed $101.5M through the 2023-24 season, but if there is a weakness on this Brooklyn Nets team, it lies in their frontcourt. Blake Griffin, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Paul Millsap are the big names down low for the Nets, but seeing as they are older and may have durability issues, adding Kristaps Porzingis to solve these rebounding/defensive issues could be worthwhile.
