“I thought so too, that’s for sure! ». On paper, the Doncic-Porzingis association imagined by Mark Cuban had everything to succeed. Kristaps Porzingis was to be the counterpart of Luka Doncic inside and the duo saw themselves reforming a 2.0 version of Nash-Nowitzki.
But the mayonnaise did not take as hoped, and after three seasons, Dallas resigned itself to parting with its interior to go on another project. Now in Washington, KP spoke about this failure since the Mavs never managed to get past the first round of the playoffs. He takes his share of the responsibility.
“We never really managed to reach the level of play we were aiming for. For a lot of people, it’s my fault.”, did he concede. “I could have played better. I think we had a few episodes, before the “Bubble” in Orlando, then in the “Bubble”, where I played at a very high level, and things were going well. Then I get injured, and after that, there are a lot of things… I first look at what I could have done better. And I can be critical of myself today, looking back, and say to myself, “Okay, I wasn’t moving well enough defensively, my pace was probably not good at certain times of the season”. Otherwise I would have played at the level I play today (…). But I thought that sooner or later the efforts were going to pay off.
The first supporter of the Mavs
The Latvian interior first saw the Mavericks make big playoffs last season by reaching the conference final before collapsing at the end of the 2022-2023 fiscal year. An unexpected fall which does not delight him despite the hasty end of his story with the Texas franchise.
“They’ve always treated me well, and I really wish everyone in the franchise the best. They are great people, they have been perfect with me. I only want good things for them. And even if they hadn’t been correct, I would still have wished them the best. But really, I only have good things to say about Dallas.”he added.
Before participating in the World Cup with Latvia this summer, and finding France (and Canada) in the first round, KP will now have to look into his personal case, when he has the possibility of activate its “player option” at $36 million for 2023-2024, or test the market to find a longer contract, in Washington or elsewhere. On the side of the player, who says he feels good at the Wizards, the time would still be for reflection.
“It’s crazy, because Washington just fired Tommy Sheppard. There’s a change in the franchise, so we’ll see how it goes with them, and then we’ll advise from there. It would probably make sense for me to give up on this season to sign a new contract. But you never know, all options must remain open. We will see that in the next few weeks”.
| Kristaps Porzingis | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Crew | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 2015-16 | NYK | 72 | 28 | 42.1 | 33.3 | 83.8 | 1.8 | 5.5 | 7.3 | 1.3 | 2.9 | 0.7 | 1.7 | 1.9 | 14.3 |
| 2016-17 | NYK | 66 | 33 | 45.0 | 35.7 | 78.6 | 1.7 | 5.5 | 7.2 | 1.5 | 3.7 | 0.7 | 1.8 | 2.0 | 18.1 |
| 2017-18 | NYK | 48 | 32 | 43.9 | 39.5 | 79.3 | 1.3 | 5.3 | 6.6 | 1.2 | 2.9 | 0.8 | 1.9 | 2.4 | 22.7 |
| 2019-20 | LAD | 57 | 32 | 42.7 | 35.2 | 79.9 | 1.8 | 7.7 | 9.5 | 1.8 | 3.3 | 0.7 | 1.6 | 2.0 | 20.4 |
| 2020-21 | LAD | 43 | 31 | 47.6 | 37.6 | 85.5 | 1.9 | 7.0 | 8.9 | 1.6 | 2.7 | 0.5 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 20.1 |
| 2021-22 * | All Teams | 51 | 29 | 45.9 | 31.0 | 86.7 | 2.0 | 6.1 | 8.1 | 2.3 | 2.7 | 0.7 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 20.2 |
| 2021-22 * | LAD | 34 | 30 | 45.1 | 28.3 | 86.5 | 1.9 | 5.8 | 7.7 | 2.0 | 2.6 | 0.7 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 19.2 |
| 2021-22 * | WAS | 17 | 28 | 47.5 | 36.7 | 87.1 | 2.2 | 6.6 | 8.8 | 2.9 | 2.9 | 0.7 | 1.7 | 1.5 | 22.1 |
| 2022-23 | WAS | 65 | 33 | 49.8 | 38.5 | 85.1 | 1.8 | 6.7 | 8.4 | 2.7 | 3.0 | 0.9 | 2.1 | 1.5 | 23.2 |
| Total | 402 | 31 | 45.3 | 35.9 | 82.7 | 1.8 | 6.2 | 8.0 | 1.8 | 3.0 | 0.7 | 1.7 | 1.8 | 19.6 | |
How to read the stats? MJ = matches played; Min = Minutes; Shots = Shots made / Shots attempted; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def= defensive rebound; Tot = Total bounces; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost bullets; Ct: Counters; Points = Points.
