Kristaps Porzingis is trading rumors “ don’t add up, ” says Mavericks owner Mark Cuban

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban on Tuesday morning firmly denied trade rumors surrounding Kristaps Porzingis that Dallas, according to Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer, was poking around to gauge the big man’s trade value. The Mavericks also reached out to the Golden State Warriors to determine their interest in a possible Porzingis deal, SNY’s Ian Begley said.

Cuban dismissed the trade rumors surrounding Porzingis and told The Athletic’s Tim Cato that they were “not true” and that “we haven’t talked to anyone about him.” The team owner then went on to deepen the rumors, quoting an unnamed Western Conference manager expressing concerns about Porzingis’ defense.

“We’re not happy that an alleged Western Conference manager is ripping off one of our players,” Cuban told Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News“There is no trade discussion. I think they just used it as a way of getting out what they think about KP.”

First, if a team tried to “quietly” buy a player, as the report suggests, of course it wouldn’t come out right away and announce it to the public. Nor would it be entirely surprising if Dallas began to consider trading the former All-Star. While Porzingis’s stats are comparable to the average of a season ago (20.5 points, 8.2 rebounds), his 3-point shooting recovered (35.2 percent) after struggling immensely this season on his return from a meniscus surgery. But the problem that always remains with him is his health.

It also doesn’t help that the Mavericks actually perform better when Porzingis isn’t on the ground, especially when it comes to defense. While sitting on the bench, the Mavericks allow 11 points less per possession in defense, while they score 4.3 points more per possession in violation. Since he got back from his meniscal surgery, he hasn’t looked 100 percent and doesn’t resemble his defense. He struggles to get into good posture and often moves like he’s stuck in the sand.

Porzingis has had 13 injuries since joining the league in 2015, including an ACL tear that sidelined him for a season and a half, before being traded to Dallas. He also sustained a meniscus tear in the postseason last year, getting out of the Mavs’ last three games against the Clippers in the first round.

When healthy, he has proven to be an attacking powerhouse for Dallas. He can beat long-range threes, and his pick and roll game with Doncic reached deadly levels by the end of last season. But Porzingis has only played in 60 or more games in his career twice, and when Dallas can’t count on staying sane, that begs the question of how useful he can actually be to a Mavericks team trying to win a championship. build. contender around Doncic.

If the Mavericks are indeed starting to poke around the potential trade of Porzingis, what can they realistically get for him? He’s in year 2 of a $ 158 million five-year contract. Add that to his long injury history, and that combination will deter most teams. Dallas has invested way too much in Porzingis to get him rid of this quickly. These reports don’t necessarily mean a transaction is imminent – and Cuban says it’s not even being discussed. Still, this is worth keeping an eye out for, even past the trading deadline as the Mavericks ponder what their long-term future with Porzingis looks like.