Kristaps Porzingis was supposed to be the savior of the New York Knicks. However, he was traded to the Dallas Mavericks in the middle of the afternoon without any kind of previous notice on one of the most shocking moves we’ve seen in years.
Nobody saw that trade coming, not even Mark Cuban, according to an interview with WFAN Radio. According to the venture capitalist, it was their own version of the James Harden trade, because no one else in the league had a clue about what was about to happen:
“It happens in the NBA. It’s like the James Harden trade. Harden gets traded from OKC to the Rockets and I’m like, damn, why didn’t we even get that offered to us? We weren’t in the mix. Nobody was. It was one phone call and the Rockets said yes. [The Porzingis trade] was our one phone call,” Cuban started.
Obviously, it’s well known that general managers are in constant communication about potential transactions for star players. However, they don’t seal those deals very often.
“We already had those conversations before. GMs talk all the time. We’re willing to do this if you ever want to give him up … We used to get calls on Dirk [Nowitzki] ‘we’ll give you A, B, C, D, E, and F,’ but we’re not trading Dirk ever. [They said], ‘Well, if you do.’ In this case, [the Knicks] changed their mind,” Cuban added.
The Mavericks’ owner went on to clarify that the trade may not be a reason to bash the Knicks, claiming that those kinds of stuff happen all the time because teams just want to protect their future. They gamble and sometimes it doesn’t pay off:
“Every team has their own reasons. We let Steve Nash walk. It was the dumbest thing we ever did. At the time, we were getting medical advice saying his back may not make it. Obviously, that advice was wrong … The Knicks had their judgment and were trying to do what they wanted to do and sometimes it doesn’t work,” he concluded.
At the end of the day, the Mavericks may have put together one of the most promising 1-2 punches the league has seen in a while. The Knicks, on the other hand, look like the losers of this trade thus far but you know how fast things can change in the NBA.
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