NBA Free Agency: Knicks, Kristaps Porzingis Due for Reunion?

Kristaps Porzingis was traded by the New York Knicks in 2019. But there may be an open door for a return to the Big Apple in 2023.

The New York Knicks are figuring out ways to improve and move forward this offseason in their quest for a championship.

With no picks in the 2023 NBA Draft, free agency is the best option for the Knicks. New York needs to figure out a way to move forward without adding youth, but sometimes the way to move forward is to go backward.

ClutchPoints suggests the Knicks as one of three potential options for Kristaps Porzingis in free agency.

"The Knicks have been linked to Porzingis for an extended period. A reunion with the team that drafted him could be a fitting scenario for Porzingis," Enzo Flojo writes. "With him complementing a roster centered around Julius Randle and Jalen Brunson, the Latvian should shine as a No. 3 or even No. 4 option ... Integrating Porzingis into this lineup would bolster their chances of reaching the next level."

Porzingis has a $36 million player option with the Washington Wizards, which he can choose to opt out of in order to sign a new contract this summer.

Porzingis is coming off a career-best in scoring with 23.2 points a game in his first full season in Washington. No players remain on the Knicks' roster from Porzingis' last New York excursion in 2017-18 and the team was still three years away from bringing current team president Leon Rose into the fold.

Porzingis averaged 17.8 points in his three years with the Knicks, but a torn ACL and a poor fit on the roster prompted New York to trade him in 2019 along with Trey Burke, Tim Hardaway Jr., and Courtney Lee to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for DeAndre Jordan, Wesley Matthews, Dennis Smith Jr., and two first-round picks. One of those picks has been a recent point of contention.

He's definitely different from the player New York drafted with the fourth pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, and the Knicks are a different team. He would create a dynamic duo with Julius Randle in the frontcourt and add another layer to the offense Jalen Brunson leads in the backcourt.

While his defense may not be better than Mitchell Robinson's, who Porzingis would likely replace in the starting lineup, he elevates the Knicks' overall ceiling, something New York needs to do this offseason.

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