Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd opened up on what happened with Kristaps Porzingis and why the Mavericks decided to trade him in 2022 ahead of Porzingis’ returning to Dallas in the NBA Finals while wearing a Boston Celtics jersey.
“No, when you talk about, ‘did it work, did it not work?’ I only had him for a short period of time. I thought it was going well, in the sense of our defense. His ability to block shots, rebound. Then offensively we looked to post him up a little bit more than Rick [Carlisle] had used him in the post, which was strictly on the perimeter shooting threes. Both worked. He has the skill set to do both.”
Kidd made it clear that he didn’t feel Porzingis had done anything wrong, but the business of basketball led to the change being required.
“As you know, in the business of basketball, there’s trades that take place. We’re judged if it works or doesn’t work. That’s just part of the business. For the short period I had him, I really enjoyed KP. He was great on the floor, great off the floor, did everything we asked.”
The head coach implied his lack of health was a major problem.
“When you talk about maybe the health, he got hurt. As much as any coach or teammate. you want them all to be out there 100 percent at all times. I thought KP did great for us. But the business of basketball, there was a pivot. So, from there things changed.”
The ‘business of basketball’ point by Kidd is the biggest indicator of what the Mavericks were thinking when they got rid of Porzingis. The team acquired him when he was coming off an ACL tear, which slowed his process of readjusting to the flow of the game, especially alongside a ball-centric guard like Luka Doncic.
He was injury-prone throughout his Mavericks’ tenure, playing an extremely safe style of basketball to keep himself healthy and available. He played 134 of the 210 regular-season games in his tenure with the Mavs, not even including the games he missed when the Mavericks acquired him in February 2019 while he was recovering from his ACL tear.
At the time he was traded, Porzingis was earning $38 million with another season on the contract, leaving the Mavericks with no flexibility to make additional moves, which led to him being traded for Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans from the Wizards.
Dinwiddie and Bertans played a role in their 2022 Conference Finals run, but their smaller contracts were eventually moved in trades which helped the Mavericks land Kyrie Irving and Dereck Lively II, which wouldn’t have been possible with just an injury-prone Porzingis.
The Celtics received picks in the deal they made to acquire Porzingis, showing he’s a major injury risk, as evidenced by him missing most of the 2024 Playoffs already. He averaged 20.0 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks on the Mavericks in two-and-a-half seasons before averaging 20.1 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks on the Celtics this season.
Kristaps Porzingis will get a chance at revenge against his former team, the Dallas Mavericks, who traded him after three seasons in 2022 when everyone hoped he would be a long-term co-star for Luka Doncic. The pair had some frosty moments, but recent speculation of beef between them was emphatically shut down by Doncic.
Porzingis isn’t the only player facing his former team in these Finals, as Kyrie Irving also played for the Celtics for two seasons. Even longtime Mavericks’ center Dwight Powell is a former Celtic, and Derrick Jones Jr. turned down the Celtics in the offseason to come play for the Mavericks. There are a lot of intertwined stories in this series which will finally tip off tomorrow on June 6.
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