Mavericks' Kristaps Porzingis can elevate game if he improves court vision, avoids careless passing mistakes

Porzingis possesses elite talent, but there are areas in his game that could improve

In his first season back from tearing his ACL in 2017, Kristaps Porzingis took a few months before shaking off the rust and showing signs of his former All-Star self with the Dallas Mavericks. In the last month and a half before the season was postponed due to COVID-19, Porzingis was starting to hit a groove with the Mavericks, and his chemistry with second-year star Luka Doncic was thriving. Standing at 7-foot-3, the former New York Knicks big man has a shooting touch that is rare for someone of his size, and his shot-blocking ability makes him crucial for Dallas on both ends of the floor.

Porzingis' pick-and-roll game with Doncic is terrifying to watch, and his stroke from 3-point range makes him a difficult player to guard on the perimeter. There are many reasons to like his game, and given that the average age of he and Doncic combined is 22 1/2 years, it's understandable why many people think the Mavericks will be contenders for many seasons to come. Porzingis can score from pretty much everywhere on the floor and his interior defense is among the best in the league. However, if there's one crucial area where he needs to improve significantly, it's his passing.

He doesn't need to become a Nikola Jokic-level passer, and that's likely not realistic given how much of the Denver Nuggets offense runs through Jokic. But, some of Porzingis' shortcomings in his passing game are due to just careless mistakes.

Then there's the instances where he gets stuck and ends up throwing the ball away. When the defense is pressuring Porzingis, either on the perimeter or in the post, he tries to make the right play by giving it up to the nearest teammate. However, it usually results in him just throwing it out of reach, which leads to a turnover. Or he throws it far too high out of bounds. 

It's unsurprising that someone of Porzingis' size struggles with passing, especially out on the perimeter where he's forced to think like a guard or small forward. However, because he's primarily used around the 3-point line for his floor-spacing abilities, he needs to significantly improve in that regard. These are issues that are easily fixable, though. It just requires more effort and awareness from Porzingis so he's not panicking and rushing passes to teammates who have no chance of recovering his errant throw. While that aspect of his passing isn't difficult to overcome, there is an area that won't go away with just enhanced focus, but rather needs actual work by him to develop. 

Earlier in the season, Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle went on a rant defending Porzingis in response to TNT's "Inside the NBA" crew saying they wanted to see the 7-3 unicorn posting up guys down low more instead of standing around the perimeter. Carlisle said posting up Porzingis in the paint isn't as effective as using him as a floor spacer, which statistically is true. Although he could become more effective posting up if his passing improved in the paint.

On the occasions where Dallas does post Porzingis up, his sole focus is to score. It's like he gets tunnel vision on the basket, and ignores the other four teammates on the floor with him, which results in him missing open shooters on the wings when the defense collapses on him. 

There are a few times where Porzingis makes the right read, and finds a teammate cutting to the basket or left open behind the 3-point line. Still, though, he's only passing back out 19 percent of the time, per Synergy Sports, and the rest of the time when he's looking to score he generates just 0.778 points per possession, which ranks in the 21st percentile in the league. Obviously his scoring is his greatest asset to the Mavericks, especially when they have a wizard facilitator in Doncic. Yet if Porzingis looked to make the smart play and make the defense work for him, it would take his game to the next level. 

He doesn't need to become Jokic, but he can learn from the Joker in the way he passes out of the post to find an open teammate for an easy bucket. When Porzingis gets the ball in the post, he usually waits about two seconds before he launches up a mid-range jumper. He needs to execute more patience, and let secondary plays develop to see if there's a higher percentage shot Dallas can get. Unlike his playing days in New York, Porzingis has other scorers around him capable of knocking down shots, so he doesn't always need to look for his shot every time he's posting up.

This is going to take time, because improving court vision and understanding reads isn't something that just magically happens overnight. Luckily for Dallas, though, Porzingis is locked into a contract for the next four years, which will give him time to build chemistry with teammates and get a better feel for where they want the ball and what plays work best. If he's able to improve that aspect of his game, he'll have yet another tool at his disposal on offense, and that should be terrifying for opposing teams.