Kyle Kuzma Says Porzingis 'Wasn't Part of Things' With Mavs? Here's Why He's Wrong
The Dallas Mavericks made the surprising choice to move on from Kristaps Porzngis at the NBA trade deadline in a move that sent him to the Washington Wizards. In return, they received Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans.
Porzingis has yet to make his Wizards debut as he remains sidelined due to a knee injury that ultimately caused his last game as a member of the Mavericks to be in late January. It still remains unclear when he will be available to play, but regardless, Washington's key players are excited about his expected impact.
During an interview with NBC Sports Washington, Kyle Kuzma shared his thoughts on what Kristaps Porzingis brings to the Wizards, as well as what he saw from his situation during his time with the Mavericks.
"Just playing against him over the years, I had the opportunity to be in the league long enough for when he was in New York and seeing him in Dallas, those were two different players," Kuzma said. "That's partly because of how Rick Carlisle used him, and a lot of times, if you looked at his New York tape, the dude was killer.
"That's because you're playing through him, you're playing him in the post, you let him get touches, you let him feel the ball, and I feel like when he was in Dallas he wasn't necessarily a part of things, and that's no disrespect."
Kuzma continued: "You know, obviously Luka [Doncic is] a phenomenal player, but at the end of the day, every player in the league wants to feel a part of something, and I feel with [Porzingis] coming here, I know he's got a lot to prove and I know he wants to feel a part of something as long as he's healthy ... he's 20 and 10 for you all day."
Is there really much truth to Kuzma's claim that Porzingis 'wasn't a part of something' in Dallas, though? For context, let's consider that Porzingis is averaging 14.9 field goal attempts per game this season, which on par with players like Khris Middleton (15.0), Jerami Grant (15.1), Jimmy Butler (15.0), Klay Thompson (14.8) and even James Harden (16.0). All of those players are extremely involved with what their teams are doing, so the idea that Porzingis wasn't getting his fair share of opportunities, especially this season, is asinine.
Porzingis is also top-25 in usage rate among players having played in at least 25 games, ranking higher than Butler, Middleton, Pascal Siakam, Anthony Davis and others. All of those players are either in contention for being the top player on their teams or, at the very least, the teams' true secondary options.
Porzingis will get a prime opportunity to show either how right or wrong Dallas truly was for moving on from him in his new role with the Wizards. With Bradley Beal sidelined for the remainder of the season, it'll be up to Porzingis to get healthy and stay available to seize that chance.
The Mavericks opted to no longer kid themselves that Porzingis had the shot creation ability to be a secondary star, let alone have the availability to be relied upon in such a role even if he was capable. Now, Luka Doncic has a league-leading usage rate and is playing at an MVP level, and even making history in the process.
There is still a need for the Mavericks to add that secondary star talent next to Luka Doncic going forward. With former Nike executive Nico Harrison running the front office and Jason Kidd at head coach, there should be the personnel in place to get it done at some point, despite the previous regime's numerous failures to do so.
