For Porzingis, today is a day to remember. When the old club Lone Ranger lost to the Hornets by 21 points, coach Kidd sighed after the game: "Doncic is great, but can't find anyone to join him", he scored 18 points in the fourth quarter to lead the team to complete the reversal, and played the Lakers' small lineup on the top of the hand.
This season has been another transformative season for Porzingis. After playing 34 games for the Mavericks, Porzingis was sent to the Wizards. In Dallas, his efficiency was sluggish, and after coming to Washington, his efficiency has rebounded. In his first six games for the Wizards, Porzingis averaged 19.5 points, 7.7 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game, shooting a career-high of 49.3 percent and a three-point shooting percentage of 33.3 percent, but an improvement from 28.3 percent in the season when he was on the Lone Ranger.
The Wizards started high and went low this season, and they then went all the way down after occupying the top of the East Zone at the beginning of the season, and still ranked 11th in the East Zone after winning this game, and five wins behind the Hawks who were 10th in the East Zone. With little left in the regular season, it can be declared that it is almost impossible to get out of the playoffs, which is in stark contrast to the Trend of the Wizards in the 2020-21 season.
But at least today, Porzingis has given Wizards fans a long-lost confidence. Of course, this is also due to the Lakers, coach Vogel had to put a small lineup on the fourth quarter after the game, and Porzingis gave an explanation. The last showdown of the season, unstoppable, was James, who blasted 50 points, and Porzingis scored only 14 points on 3 of 13. A week passed, and the situation dropped.
Maybe this game is not enough to silence the doubters, but Porzingis has long been with the questioning, and he is used to it.
Porzingis was born on August 2, 1995 in Liepaja, Latvia. Under the influence of his parents, he began to contact basketball at the age of 6. His brother Giannis is 13 years older than him and spent his early years playing in European basketball. Every offseason, he would take his brother to the major training camps. After retiring from the army, Giannis also transformed into his brother's agent.
At first, Porzingis played for the most prestigious local team in his hometown. At the age of 15, a scout distributed his tournament highlights to clubs in Spain and Italy. Finally, a La Liga team based in Sevilla, Spain (later renamed Real Betis) extended an olive branch to him. Despite the unsatisfactory results of the trials (Porzingis blamed the Spanish weather for being too hot), the team offered him a contract.
Tribulations ensued. After a test by the Seville team doctor, it was determined that Porzingis suffered from anemia and insufficient red blood cell reserves, which made him prone to fatigue, shortness of breath, drowsiness, and even unable to participate in training. And that's not all. Porzingis also found himself struggling with language, and he was always unable to communicate easily with his coaches and teammates.
But Porzingis overcame illness and language with perseverance and rose from the youth team to the first team in the 2012-13 season. Sevilla have hired former Barca coach Aito Garcia Renises, who has coached gasol, Navarro, Rubio and Rudi Fernandez. It is also in his hands that Porzingis has grown from a nervous to trembling boy in his first-team debut to a future star who has been selected for the ACB Best Young Players lineup twice, which naturally attracted the attention of the NBA.
At first, Porzingis announced his participation in the 2014 NBA Draft, and teams such as the Magic and Thunder became interested and sent scouts across the ocean to investigate him. He was the 4th youngest of the players to run that year and was considered to be selected with the first 15 picks in the first round. But in the end, he withdrew from the draft on the grounds that he was not ready. After a year of precipitation, when Porzingis announced his candidacy again in 2015, he was already considered to have lotto value, and even won the top 5 picks. But his evaluations are also polarized: some people compare him to Gasol and Nowitzki, but there is also a reminder not to forget Milisic, Skitishvili and Banhni.
From this, it is not surprising that everything that happened at the draft scene. When the Knicks picked him in the 4th pick, the New York fans erupted in piercing boos, and a little boy in a Knicks jersey even burst into tears (as for his black turn, it was a later story). In response, Porzingis responded lightly: "I will shock people who have not seen me play, and I will let the people who boo me become my fans." ”
Porzingis did what he said. In the rookie season, he averaged 14.3 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game, and was selected as the best rookie, and MSG greeted him from booing to cheering. Since then, Porzingis has gradually grown, and in the 2017-18 season, he was selected as an All-Star for the first time with an average of 22.7 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game.
However, his fate with the Knicks is destined not to last long. On February 6, 2018, during the Knicks' loss to the Bucks, Porzingis tore his left knee ligament and was reimbursed for the season, which was also his last game in the Knicks shirt. While recuperating from his injury, the Knicks had already begun to free up salary space to prepare for a contract extension, but what awaited them was his application to leave the team.
So, at the end of January 2019, Porzingis, along with Hardaway Jr., Trey Burke and Courtney Lee, was sent to the Lone Rangers in exchange for Jordan Jr., Matthews, Dennis Smith and two first-round picks. Just yesterday, the Wizards visited MSG, 97-100 defeated the Knicks, Porzingis also said that he likes to be in the Knicks, he still loves New York, enjoy the time here, "here are only good memories." ”
Opinions vary as to why Porzingis and Knicks broke up. To sum up, there are no more than three reasons, one is that Porzingis's injury is worrying; the second is that Porzingis has not promised to renew his contract; and the third Porzingis also wants to join a more powerful and promising team, and in the Knicks he can't even touch the edge of the playoffs.
After patient waiting, Porzingis returned from the 2019-20 season with a bloody return, handing over a report card of 20.4 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2 blocks per game, and also ushered in the first experience of the playoffs. In the first round of G1, Porzingis was expelled due to a clash with Marcus Morris, but G2 and G3, he combined 18 of 31 shooting (8 of 33 three points), with 57 points and 20 rebounds. Unfortunately, the injury struck again, and his season ended early due to torn meniscus, and the Lone Ranger was also out 2-4.
But in the second season of playing as a lone ranger, the contradiction between Porzingis and the team began to intensify. Under the influence of successive injuries, his attendance and performance are also shaking. Playoffs in the first round of the 2021 playoffs again again again, Porzingis is also completely in the same style as a year ago, averaging only 13.1 points and 5.4 rebounds per game, and the three-point shooting rate fell below 30%. What makes Dallas even more speechless is that this is only the second year of Porzingis's five-year fattening of about 158 million.
As a result, dallas people moved the idea of trading, but they ran into walls everywhere, and finally could only accept the reality that "the value of the Porzingis transaction is zero". The 2021 offseason Lone Ranger personnel changes, Nelson Jr. and Carlisle have been dismissed, and the new coach Kidd has flown to Latvia to appease Porzingis after taking office.
But judging from what happened later, this was just a slow-off strategy for the Lone Ranger. In February, the Mavericks said goodbye to Porzingis at the cost of taking over 2 "bad contracts" Dinwiddie and Bertáns.
Looking back, the combination of Porzingis and Doncic was once favored, but the two have never been able to spark, and the relationship on the sidelines is also flat. In addition, Porzingis's frequent injuries have worn down dallas patience. Kuzma, on the other hand, pointed the finger at Carlisle after the trade, bluntly saying that he had misused Porzingis, making the latter play very differently from when he was in the Knicks.
Porzingis had a nickname: "Unicorn", which both showed his superiority and gave him ridicule. For many years, this "unicorn" has been looking for a place to live, is the wizarding talent his blessed land? (Supine Braces/Hairy)