Kristaps Porzingis is now a member of the Washington Wizards. The 7-foot-3 Porzingis was traded Thursday from the Dallas Mavericks to the Wizards in exchange for Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans.
As the news broke via ESPN, former Washington Bullets guard turned ESPN analyst Tim Legler wasn’t so thrilled about Porzingis coming to Washington. In fact, Legler believes the Mavericks won the trade as he gave a savage take on Porzingis and his reputation of playing availability.
“I know he got nicknamed a unicorn because you know he’s so unique, but he’s also the unicorn because you hardly ever see him,” Legler proclaimed. “That’s the problem with Kristaps Porzingis. He’s a guy that just, he’s not consistently available.”
Legler also said Porzingis cannot initiate any offense for himself. He feels Dinwiddie will provide the Mavericks and their star Luka Doncic someone who can create for himself and aid the team with Doncic on the bench.
Legler’s view on Porzingis’ health sounds like a hot take, but there’s evidence behind his statement.
Porzingis appeared destined for greatness when he entered the league with the New York Knicks. However, a torn ACL during his third season in 2017-18 reshaped his career.
Since the knee injury, Porzingis has struggled to stay on the court. After missing the entire 2018-19 season, he came back to play 57 of 82 games in 2019-20. The Mavericks made the playoffs that season. However, Porzingis suffered a lateral meniscus tear in Game 2 of the first round series against the Clippers and did not return to the postseason.
In 2020-21, he played 43 games. He also had a dreadful playoff showing. This season he missed 22 games for various reasons. He missed the last six games before with a knee injury before being traded to Washington.
While Washington offloaded the lingering bad contracts of Dinwiddie and Bertans, some can argue, they acquired an equally bad contract with Porzingis.
Legler believes so, as he added we may see more of the same from Porzingis that he showed in Dallas.
“So I love this deal for Dallas,” Legler said. “I think it was time that they moved on from Kristaps Porzingis. And he’ll probably be more of the same in Washington, a guy that you know, he’s available here in there and tantalizes you with seven-three and shooting ability. But really not somebody that’s reliable enough to build around and build toward a championship yet.”
Porzingis is just 26 year of age. But his lack of availability flashes signs of an injury-riddled career. How much of an impact Porzingis will be in Washington depends on how many games he actually plays.
