LAS VEGAS — Lakers great James Worthy, now a team broadcaster, gave the wildest praise yet to 19-year-old Kristaps Porzingis, who will face the Lakers at Thomas & Mack Center Monday night in the Knicks’ second summer league game.
After his 12-points-in-18-minute showing against the Spurs in his Knicks debut Saturday, Worthy said on the Lakers broadcast: “He’s a freak of nature. He’s a combination of Dirk Nowitzki and Kevin Durant. It’s a good pick for the Knicks.’’
Porzingis blocked two shots, stood his ground and drew fouls, getting to the line for seven free throws, making six. He’s been compared to Nowitzki and Pau Gasol before, but not so much Durant.

http://nypost.com/2015/07/12/for-years-arron-afflalo-dreamed-of-playing-for-the-knicks/

“This is the happiest I’ve seen him as a professional,’’ Goldfeder said. “It’s like he was drafted again. This is where he wanted to be and feels the stars aligned for him. It’s the first time he got to choose, and that was meaningful to him. The electricity he found in the Garden was like no other place, and he wanted that environment. He’s looking to have the best season of his career.’’

Afflalo recalls a game two seasons ago between Orlando and the Knicks, both teams out of the playoff race. It came down to the wire and the packed Garden sounded like Game 7 of a playoff series. That struck him.

“A franchise like the Knicks, people can say what they want, they’re not going to be down for long.’’ Afflalo said. “The city’s too great. The fan base is too great. The opportunities are too great that over time, you’ll have a great culture, great players trickling in slowly but surely. This is a city that deserves to be at its best.”

Team president Phil Jackson and GM Steve Mills wanted players eager to play in New York, not just live the big-city life. Afflalo emerged in that department and will be either the Knicks’ starting shooting guard or heavily used sixth man.

“They made me a priority on what they felt I could do offensively and defensively,’’ Afflalo said. “Lock in and defend my position at the 2-guard. I felt like it was a good fit. I want to be as impactful as possible on both ends.’’

The only dark cloud I see hanging over the season is Melo. I really question whether he's on board with everything here and I worry he'll be a problem, ask for a trade, etc.

SwishAndDish13 wrote:

meloshouldgo wrote:

crzymdups wrote:It's nice to have some hope and players who want to be here. Robin Lopez and Kyle O'Quinn seem to genuinely want to be Knicks, too.

The only dark cloud I see hanging over the season is Melo. I really question whether he's on board with everything here and I worry he'll be a problem, ask for a trade, etc.

Him asking for a trade is slightly better than him sulking and taking the season off on defense. His negativity needs to be addressed if it starts impacting the new players and or the team identity we are trying to build.

The no trade clause was a really stupid move. We have no leverage whatsoever on any trade. But whatever we get back, I will be happy to see him go.

Let's give it a chance if possible. He has been supportive of horrendous decisions (Shump a potential all-star) in the past. I highly doubt Melo believed that but he fully supported Shump. Melo hasn't provided any drama, and didn't complain much last yr. Never even told Amare to shut up with his fake leadership. This team is much better than last years (not saying a lot), but if we could actually have Melo do something negative before jumping on him, that would be a step in the right direction for the fanbase.

Zinger looks good to some, and Affalo actually wants to be here. And we got two vets back who might give us some of that Krazy Eyes/Rashweed effect.

Must be all part of Melo's grand plan to sink the franchise.

GustavBahler wrote:I was impressed with how many screens Porzingis set for his teammates. Its been a low prority for this team going back many years.

This is a great point. Off the ball movement has been non-existent for about a decade now.

Ian Begley, ESPN Staff Writer

Most of the NBA is getting its first look at Kristaps Porzingis this week in Las Vegas, but Kyle Lowry, Jared Dudley, C.J. Watson and a few other pros already know his game fairly well.

They got a firsthand look at the rookie 12 months ago in pickup games at Impact Basketball Academy, not far from the gym where the 19-year-old Latvian made his summer league debut Saturday afternoon.

“Sometimes, the NBA guys, they’ll come out a little lax when they see a guy like him,” Joe Abunassar, the founder of Impact, said of Porzingis. “But they couldn’t do that with Kris. He came right at them. There was a sequence where he blocked a shot, came down and hit a 3 and then blocked another shot.

“Everyone in the gym was like, ‘Wow, this guy is going to be a major player.’ Lowry wanted him on his team every day, but no one really knew who he was at that point.”

Depending whom you ask, Porzingis is now either the perfect building block for Phil Jackson’s Knicks or another European big man destined fall short of expectations.

The No. 4 pick got to the free throw line seven times Saturday in his summer league debut against the San Antonio Spurs. He also set solid screens and showed good instincts when guarding the ball. But he had just three rebounds in 18 minutes.

If Porzingis falls short of expectations, many will likely point to the example set by other European big men employed by New York -- Andrea Bargnani, Frederic Weis, Maciej Lampe -- as reason to doubt him. For what it’s worth, Porzingis is aware of the label he carries because of their failures.

“I’m conscious that there is a stereotype of Europeans -- white European big men who are skilled,” Porzingis said recently. “But the thing about me is that I have a passion for the game. I love to be in the gym. I love working.”

Those who know Porzingis believe his work ethic and passion will separate him from those sort of labels.

“There are some tall players who come into the NBA and aren’t in love with the game," said Scott Roth, who coached Porzingis the past season at Sevilla. "They got put in that position because of their height, and they ended up developing some skills and figured that this was a great way to make some money. But they didn’t really love basketball; that’s not Kris at all."

Roth knows a thing or two about European prospects transitioning to the NBA. He was a member of the Dallas Mavericks coaching staff during Dirk Nowitzki’s first two seasons in the NBA. He also coached with the Memphis Grizzlies during Pau Gasol’s first season and worked with both Jonas Valanciunas and Bargnani while on the Toronto Raptors staff.

“I coached Andrea for two years, and he’s one of my better friends," Roth said. "I’m probably one of the few guys he ended up trusting as a coach. They [Porzingis and Bargnani] are different players. [Bargnani] is a good player, but I think Zinger’s desire to be great, the work to fight through adversity, his toughness, is what will separate him."

Roth first saw Porzingis’ “toughness” in one of his early practices. The teen corralled an offensive rebound, which is nothing special when you’re 7-1. But then ...

“In the past, I’ve been around players of that size, and they try to finesse it in, pump-fake you or take a fadeaway,” Roth said. “This kid, nine times out of 10, would just the take ball and try to dunk it through you. That showed me that there wasn’t any fear.”

Abunassar saw the same approach from Porzingis the previous summer against Lowry & Co.

"Being here, being the fourth pick or whatever, it doesn't matter. Now everybody starts from zero, and I have to prove myself once again. It's a huge challenge, so I'll just have to keep working."

“He wasn’t backing down. He wanted to compete right away,” Abunassar said. “He was out there to dunk on guys.”

Like Roth, Abunassar has seen the best and worst of European -- and American -- prospects, having worked with several top-10 picks the past few seasons. Abunassar didn’t see the same red flags with Porzingis.

“His dedication, his willingness to work is different,” Abunassar said. “His desire to be physical is there. The guys who didn’t pan out, they didn’t have that same passion.”

Of course, there are more questions than answers surrounding Porzingis as he enters his first season in the NBA. Will he be able to rebound? Create his own shot? Play in the post? Defend the rim? All are valid concerns for a Knicks team coming off the worst season in franchise history.

But if those who’ve worked with Porzingis are correct, one thing the Knicks won’t have to worry about is the rookie’s desire to improve.

“Being here, being the fourth pick or whatever, it doesn’t matter,” Porzingis said. “Now everybody starts from zero, and I have to prove myself once again. It’s a huge challenge, so I’ll just have to keep working.”