Kristaps Porzingis trades rumors ‘inaccurately’, says Mark Cuban, owner of Mavericks

Mark Cuban, owner of Mavericks, on Tuesday morning vehemently denied the trade rumor surrounding Kristaps Porzingis that Dallas, according to Jake Fischer, of the Bleacher Report, sniffed to determine the value of the big man. The Mavericks have also reached out to the Golden State Warriors to determine their interest in a potential Porzingis deal, according to Ian Begley of SNY.

Cubans dismissed the trade rumors surrounding Porzingis and told Tim Cato of The Athletic that they were “not true” and that “we have never discussed him with anyone.” The owner of the team then went further about the rumors, which quoted an unnamed manager of the Western Conference who expressed concern about Porzingis’ defense.

“By the way, we are not happy that there is a suspected manager of the Western Conference on one of our players,” Cuban told Brad Townsend. Dallas Morning News. “There is no trade discussion. I think they just used it as a way to state what they think of KP.”

First, if a team tries to buy a player ‘quietly’ as the report suggests, it obviously will not come out right and make it known to the public. Nor will it be entirely surprising if Dallas goes to consider the former All-Star. While Porzingis’ stats are at the same level he averaged a season ago (20.5 points, 8.2 rebounds), his three-point shooting bounced back (35.2 percent) after struggling strongly this season has in his return from meniscus surgeries. The issue that always stays with him is his health.

It also does not help that the Mavericks actually perform better when Porzingis is not on the floor, especially not in defense. If he sits on the bench, the Mavericks allow 11 points less per possession, while scoring 4.3 points more per possession in offense. Since returning to his meniscus surgery, he has not looked 100 percent and has not defended. He struggles to get into a proper posture and moves frequently as if sitting in the sand.

Porzingis has suffered 13 injuries since joining the league in 2015, including an ACL tear that sidelined him for half a season, which came before he was traded to Dallas. He also tore a meniscus last year in the post-season that kept him out of the Mavs’ last three games against the Clippers in the first round.

If he’s healthy, he’s proven to be an offensive force for Dallas. He can turn down the long-distance three-series, and his choice with Doncic was deadly by the end of last season. But Porzingis has only played twice in his career in 60 or more games, and if Dallas can not count on staying healthy, it raises the question of how useful he can be to a Mavericks team that want to build a championship. competitions around Doncic.

If the Mavericks do start scrambling about Porzingis’ possible deal, what can they get for him? He is in year 2 of a $ 158 million five-year contract. Add to that his long injury history, and the combination will deter most teams. Dallas has invested far too much in Porzingis to send him off soon. These reports do not necessarily mean that a trade is imminent – and according to Cubans, they are not even discussed. It’s still something worth monitoring, even after the deadline, because the Mavericks are thinking about what their long-term future with Porzingis looks like there.