On Thursday afternoon, the New York Knicks traded their (currently injured) star rookie, the seven-foot-tall beast Kristaps Porzingis. It was an unexpected trade that perplexed the basketball community and sent some Knicks fans into meltdown.
Twitter, as is usually the case, captured the full range of fan emotions.
The long-struggling Knicks haven’t won a championship since 1973 and haven’t made the playoffs since the 2012-13 season. When Porzingis was acquired in the 2015 NBA draft at pick four, he was seen as a saviour of sorts, ready to pull the Knicks out of the doldrums.
That future is no longer. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Jan. 31 that Porzingis would be part of a six-man deal with the Dallas Mavericks. The Knicks will also receive two first round draft picks, so it’s not all bad.
New York has agreed with Dallas on trade that includes Kristaps Porzingis, Courtney Lee, Tim Hardaway Jr., for Wesley Matthews, Dennis Smith Jr. and DeAndre Jordan, league sources tell ESPN. Players and agents are being notified of particulars. Deal may include more draft assets.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn)
Do you think the Knicks fans were happy with the news? Let’s check in with them now whi — OH GOD.
Knicks fans are already burning Porzingis uniforms pic.twitter.com/VfEUeYypBs
— Complex Sports (@ComplexSports)
Trading the best player the team has had in a decade, a restricted free agent, for cap space seems incredibly stupid but let’s wait and see bc it might be worse than that
— ☕netw3rk (@netw3rk)
I woke up like this, literally.
They traded #porzingis ?
Is this a bad dream? pic.twitter.com/YToUSNcJkr— MichaelRapaport (@MichaelRapaport)
I see a lot of people saying Knicks had to do this because Porzingis wanted out. BS. Ewing wanted out in ‘91 and Riley convinced him to stay. You don’t get rid of someone like that at that age. A dark day.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani)
Hadn’t been looking at Twitter much today and someone told me they traded Porzingis and I almost passed out in the middle of radio row
— Charlotte Wilder (@TheWilderThings)
Some Knicks fans are likely looking for a time machine, so they can stage an elaborate heist of all the telephones in Knicks HQ, preventing them them from calling in the deal at all.
Imagine taking a time mahcine back this morning and trying convince a Knicks fan that by sundown, Enes Kanter would still on New York’s roster, but Kristaps Porzingis would not be… https://t.co/Fd4hs1BtFV
— Tommy Beer (@TommyBeer)
Others think a conspiracy is afoot — Porzingis was reportedly traded after a meeting with Knicks management, which resulted in a frenzied hour of reporting, moving from ‘Porzingis might want a trade’ to ‘Porzingis is traded.’ Was that too fast?
so KP walked into a meeting, got mad, and 35 seconds later the team had a trade to the mavs all set? bullshit. they leaked it to put the blame on KP and have been shopping him, it seems, for a while.
— ☕netw3rk (@netw3rk)
But… this could just be a Knicks ploy, looking further into the future and creating a superteam, right? RIGHT?
Porzingis demands trade
Porzingis gets traded
Porzingis clears for cap space and Durant
Porzingis takes qualifying offer from Mavs
Porzingis unrestricted free agent Summer 2020
Porzingis re-signs with Knicks
Porzingis Durant Kyrieit’s not over.
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob)
This Porzingis trade means the Knicks have enough money this offseason to pursue 2 or even 3 new PR people to explain why they didn’t sign Kevin Durant
— Jason O. Gilbert (@gilbertjasono)
Fans of other teams around the league are contemplating what this means for them. Cavs fans are worried this jeopardizes their ability to be the worst and thus grab the number one draft pick at the end of the season. Hawks fans are feeling down. Spurs fans are laughing because they think they had the best international duo of all time.
The Knicks traded Kristaps Porzingis and are now the worst team in the NBA. I reminded the Cavs they need to stop winning games so they can get Zion: pic.twitter.com/QaIEupLDkD
— 🏀🌴Sir Yacht🌴🏀 (@SirYacht)
The Mavs are on the verge of having Porzingis and Luka for the next decade and the Hawks are out here building a Poor Man’s Portland and I think I am going to be sick.
— Chase Thomas (@chase__thomas)
When someone says that Porzingis and Doncic are going to be the best international duo ever. pic.twitter.com/xYzGkExAmU
— Spurs Unlimited (@SpursUnltd)
Dallas fans seem understandably pleased, and so they should be. Although Porzingis is recovering from an ACL injury, he’s still young and has plenty of upside. Combining him with recent Dallas rookie Luka Doncic could accelerate a Mavericks return to the top of the West.
In the span of about seven months, the Mavericks traded for Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis. pic.twitter.com/4TE1HiTPLq
— Nick Neppach (@NickNeppach)
Luka Doncic and Porzingis 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
— Chri$ (@chrispisss)
Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis gonna be the modern day version of Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki and I’m here for it
— Jan 25 (@MobSquadDF)
LUKA DONCIC AND KRISTAPS PORZINGIS.
I can get behind that.
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops)
Doncic + Porzingis… Ooo boy! We need a great nickname for this duo.
What ya got? Tell us @spainandfitz @jasonfitz. pic.twitter.com/QuyM2pgNUv
— Sarah Spain (@SarahSpain)
Sports news site SB Nation hit the nail on the head though. Give us the image we deserve, Dallas.
Porzingis, Dirk and Doncic need to recreate this photo ASAP pic.twitter.com/L5cu2Hu8AV
— SB Nation (@SBNation)
What a day.
The NBA trade deadline is just a week away, closing on Feb. 7 at 3 p.m. ET. That means there’s still plenty of time for NBA Twitter to melt down again, especially considering the looming threat of Anthony Davis being traded by New Orleans.
