In one of the least surprising moves of the summer, the Dallas Mavericks have reached an agreement with star forward Kristaps Porzingis on a five-year, $158M deal, according to a report from Marc Stein of the New York Times. Reports surfaced earlier this week that the Mavericks were planning to make the big offer to Porzingis, who was a restricted free agent this summer.
Porzingis, who was traded to the Mavericks from the New York Knicks in February, has not appeared in an NBA game since tearing his ACL in February of 2018. He was the fourth overall pick of the 2015 NBA Draft by the Knicks and has averaged 17.8 points, 7.1 rebounds, 2.0 blocks and 1.3 assists per game over the course of his career. He was named to the All-Star Game in 2018 before suffering the ACL injury.
Though the Latvian big man would certainly have had other suitors this summer, the Mavericks were able to offer him the most money, and he's "forged a strong connection with [Mavs Rookie of the Year] Luka Doncic in his short time in Dallas and has enjoyed his experience with [team owner] Mark Cuban," according to Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix.
The fact that the Mavs made a big offer to Porzingis isn't especially surprising, as the team likely wouldn't have traded for him otherwise. Plus, Cuban has previously stated that he wants to keep Porzingis and Doncic paired together for the foreseeable future.
"Our goal is to keep them together for the next 20 years," Cuban said at Porzingis' introductory press conference with the team.
