NEW YORK – You can count Kevin Durant among the many admirers of New York Knicks rookie Kristaps Porzingis.
“Yeah, no doubt,” Durant said after the team practiced here Monday afternoon. “No doubt. Most definitely. When they made the pick, I texted [Knicks head coach and former Thunder teammate Derek Fisher] immediately and I said I liked the pick. A lot of people were down on him, but he can play. I’ve seen it, you’ve seen it … he’s a skilled guy.
Kevin Durant is high on Kristaps Porzingis. Calls him/his skill set a "unicorn" in the NBA. pic.twitter.com/g0VZ7F8MeY
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) January 25, 2016
“I think we’ve gotten away from enjoying the skilled players in this league. We’ve got so many guys that are athletic, and big and strong, but he’s a skilled player. He can shoot, he can make the right plays, he can defend, he’s a 7-footer that can shoot all the way out to the three-point line. That’s rare. And block shots … that’s, like, a unicorn in this league. You’ve got to respect what he’s doing. This being New York City, everything is under a microscope, but he’s progressing at a high rate pretty fast, and he’s gonna be a force.”
There are few people, even in the NBA itself, who are bigger basketball junkies than Durant, so it’s not surprising to see him take an interest in one of the most popular young players in the league. But it’s also the latest example of how Porzingis has turned the Knicks into an exciting team in the league – something that has rarely happened over the past 15 years or so.
The Knicks are one of the many teams that will have room to sign a player to a max contract this summer and, like all of those teams, they’re certain to take a run at Durant if he chooses to explore free agency when his contract expires in July.
Between Porzingis and Carmelo Anthony, the Knicks have a pair of stars they can sell to prospective free agents this summer — be it Durant, Memphis Grizzlies point guard Mike Conley, Atlanta Hawks big man Al Horford or others. That’s without even mentioning Phil Jackson, who can walk into a room and drop his 13 championship rings — two as a player with the Knicks before winning 11 as a coach with the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers — onto the table.
But whether Durant gives the Knicks a look this summer or not, the fact Porzingis continues to be this big of an attraction – he came in fourth on the NBA’s list of top-selling jerseys last week, one spot ahead of Durant and 11 ahead of Anthony – and draw this much positive attention to a franchise that has been down for so long might make him an NBA unicorn even more than the unique skillset that comes with his 7-foot-3 frame.
