New York Knicks Executives Wanted to Trade Kristaps Porziņģis Last Summer
Just to be clear, forward Kristaps Porziņģis isn't going anywhere.
The seven-foot-three Latvian big man has become the undisputed focal point of the New York Knicks' offense this season and he has responded well by leading the team to a respectable 17–17 record.
However, his standing within the Knicks organization wasn't as secure during the offseason, and according to ESPN's Ian Begley, the team actually tried to trade him in the weeks days leading up to the draft this past summer after he skipped his exit interview with former team president Phil Jackson and then general manager Steve Mills following the 2016–17 season.
"Those conversations were painted in some corners as Jackson teaching Porzingis a lesson after the skipped exit meeting, but multiple sources familiar with the matter say that there were members of the organization in favor of trading Porzingis at the time," Begley wrote in his report.
Of course, basketball fans know what happened after that. Jackson was removed from his post and Mills took over as Knicks president. Porziņģis was never traded and he became the face of the franchise.
But was Mills in favor of shipping Porziņģis elsewhere?
Well, according to a report from the New York Post, Mills was never on the same page with Jackson.
"Phil's people felt he never had true control in NY, not with Steve Mills there,'' Roland Lazenby, one of Jackson's biographers, told the New York Post last week.
Mills has also told the media that he tried to talk Jackson into changing the direction of the team.
"I addressed it with Phil and our coaching staff and our entire staff, that in my view we weren't a team that really stood for anything in particular and that needed to change," Mills said, according to the New York Post.
One of the reasons why Porziņģis was frustrated with the Knicks was due to their lack of direction, so he should be happy with the team's new focus.
