You can knock the 10-45 Knicks on a lot of stuff as they tied the longest losing streak in franchise history Saturday at 16 with a 104-99 Garden loss to Kawhi Leonard’s Raptors.
But don’t knock them on their uncanny ability to pack the Garden, nor their due diligence regarding Kristaps Porzingis’ trade value. Knicks president Steve Mills had his henchmen in high gear once the calendar turned to 2019 and their 7-foot-3 Latvian turned disengaged.
The Knicks were surprised Porzingis’ stock had dropped so much since the days leading into the 2017 draft.
Twenty months ago, the Celtics offered a boatload of young assets, and the Suns were prepared to ship Devin Booker and swap a draft pick that would have placed the Knicks in position to draft Lauri Markkanen. Former team president Phil Jackson thought the Finnish big man was built sturdier than Porzingis and would become more durable.
“Teams weren’t knocking their doors down,’’ one individual with knowledge of the matter told The Post regarding Porzingis’ trade value. “They got some interest, but not like that [Phoenix, Boston offer].”
Their meeting 10 days ago was confirmation of what the Knicks brass had already feared — Porzingis wasn’t planning to commit long-term. Roughly 8-10 offers were on the table, but none met their three requirements better than Dallas’. The Knicks contacted only the teams that had these assets:
- 1. A rising prospect on his rookie contract (Dennis Smith Jr.).
- 2. Expiring contracts that would give them two max slots (Wesley Matthews, DeAndre Jordan).
- 3. One or two future first-rounders (likely 2021 and a protected 2023).
“The Knicks felt getting the two first rounders — not just one — was gravy,’’ the individual said.
Maybe it’s not Booker/Markkanen, but the deal will look substantially better than that exacta if their master plan works.
Netting two of the five Special K’s — Kevin (Durant), Kyrie (Irving), Kawhi, who received a warm pregame ovation before shooting 4-of-15, Kemba (Walker), Klay (Thompson) — would put Mills and Scott Perry in the running for 2019-20 Executive of the Year. Or if the Knicks’ braintrust pulls off an Anthony Davis blockbuster by sliding Davis’ contract into cap space.
If the Knicks luck out in the lottery with a top-two pick, the Pelicans will pay attention to them on draft night. A potential scenario is the Pelicans crafting a draft-night deal when the picks are revealed. In the Knicks’ case, the trade wouldn’t become official July 1 when they have their $74 million in cap space.
The Knicks have plenty of young assets the Pelicans would consider, according to a source. Along with a lottery pick in June and one of the two Dallas first-rounders, the Pelicans can choose between two of the following: Smith, Kevin Knox, Frank Ntilikina, Mitchell Robinson and Damyean Dotson.
According to a league source close to Pelicans general manager Dell Demps, the Knicks tried convincing New Orleans not to wait because anything can happen to the landscape.
The Pelicans weren’t comfortable with Porzingis, though, because they figured he was not re-signing in the Big Easy — not a big enough market for the Porzingis entourage.
In fact, when the Porzingis camp forwarded its wish list to Knicks brass an hour after that Thursday-morning meeting, it didn’t include Dallas. And it was too late. The Dallas deal had been ironed out the night before.
“There were concerns about his injury, that he hadn’t played in 12 months, where his mind was at and his actual skill set,’’ the individual said in explaining Porzingis’ lower-than-anticipated stock. “They weren’t getting overwhelmed.”
Word had been out around the NBA for nearly two years since Porzingis’ skipped exit meeting. Janis Porzingis, his agent/brother who calls all the shots, had lofty — possibly unreasonable — expectations.
Surprisingly, Knicks fans, at least on social media, have grown to accept the deal. Out of sight, out of mind. Beyond not playing since February, Janis had kept his brother invisible in New York. Porzingis rehabbed the entire offseason — April to late September — at Real Madrid’s facilities. No summer public appearances. Once he returned in late September, Porzingis spoke on media day, then never again.
When Mills held his writers’ meeting in mid-December, he outlined a plan for Porzingis to start working on the court with coaches in January and didn’t rule out him returning to full practice before mid-February’s reevaluation.
According to sources, those workouts with coaches were few and far between, and he lessened his appearances at team activities after they returned in January.
At Thursday’s trade deadline, the Knicks were dormant. There was very little interest in teams dealing for Enes Kanter. Any offer for Ntilikina — and there wasn’t much — underwhelmed.
Dotson had inquiries because of his friendly contract, but free-agent-to-be Noah Vonleh had few. No longer with an incentive to increase his trade value, coach David Fizdale benched Vonleh after three minutes Friday in Detroit and yanked him from the starting lineup Saturday.
In fact, other than Porzingis, the most calls in the past few weeks came for Tim Hardaway Jr., according to a source.
Fizdale’s tank machine can’t win a game, but they didn’t lose the Porzingis trade. Too bad owner James Dolan wouldn’t let Jackson trade him 20 months ago when the Zen Master envisioned Porzingis’ Knicks career as a short one.
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