The New York Knicks could be without their young star Kristaps Porzingis, for duration of the 2018-19 NBA Season according Knicks owner James Dolan.
“I’ve been told everything from December to him being out for the season, so I don’t know what to expect on that. But we can’t just sit on our ass while he’s away. We need to develop a team and then integrate him into it when he comes back.”
“Dolan called Porzingis a “great player,” but stressed the importance of building a strong supporting cast around him.” via Bleacher Report
It will be interesting to see if any major players elect to join the Knicks during the offseason, due to Dolan’s past treatment of Knicks i.e. Charles Oakley and Carmelo Anthony, and having his mentality being linked to one of a “slave master” according to Draymond Green.
Prior to tearing his ACL in a contest against the Milwaukee Bucks on February 6, Porzingis improved in his third NBA season rising his scoring average to 22.7 per game from 18.1 in the previous season, also at the at the time of his injury Porzingis, was also the league-leader in blocks at 2.4 per game.
The 22-year old, was voted to his first-ever All-Star game as a reserve, via Sports Illustrated. Other Knicks players showed signs of promise when carrying the load of the team players such as Tim Hardway Jr., Trey Burke, and Michael Beasley all had impressively good seasons. Depending on who the Knicks are able to attain via free agency and more importantly who they don as the new head coach as Mark Jackson, Jerry Stackhouse, Kenny Smith, and David Fizdale are a few of the names that have been rumored as candidates to occupy the vacancy.