Porzingis' brother says money doesn't guarantee Knicks' extension

The brother of New York Knick's forward Kristaps Porzingis, Janis Porzingis, suggested in an interview published by a Latvian news organization that Porzingis will not sign an extension with the Knicks solely because the organization can offer him the most money.

"The most important question here is this: What do you really want to achieve in your career?" Janis Porzingis said in an interview in Latvian with Sportacentrs, according to a translation by Eurohoops.net. "Because money - if Kristaps performs at least on his normal level, is gonna come. We are more focused on some other values and not just to quickly sign a new contract so we can collect the money. That's definitely not our goal, so we won't be feverishly counting minutes or counting points. You can't escape the reality and the Knicks must also see that.

"From their point of view, Kristaps is the focal point at the moment so you cannot upset him much or otherwise, at the end of the season, he will say 'it's not so cool here.' The second question is: Who is the New York audience coming to watch now? To a large extent, it's Kristaps. So the organization has to take that into account."

Porzingis is eligible to sign a five-year rookie extension starting this summer that is worth between 25 and 30 percent of the salary cap (worth between a projected $157 million and 188 million in total). If he wanted to become an unrestricted free agent, Porzingis would have to play his fifth season with the Knicks on a qualifying offer, which would be for $7.5 million -- significantly less annual money than he could earn via an extension.

Janis Porzingis, who works as a representative for Kirstaps under Andy Miller, Porzingis' primary agent, declined comment when reached Thursday He also shed light on Porzingis' decision to skip his exit meeting with ex-team president Phil Jackson and general manager Steve Mills at the end of last season. Porzingis skipped the meeting over frustration and drama surrounding the organization.

"(Skipping the exit interview) wasn't an emotional decision," Janis Porzingis said, according to the translation from Eurohoops.net. "It wasn't a spontaneous action. We had been thinking about it for a long time and it was considered an honest, well-thought decision we came up with together. It was a logical next step for us, without which we would've been in one situation, but now after we did it - we are in another."

Janis Porzingis also suggested that Carmelo Anthony could have done more as a leader to cause some of the issues that were bothering Porzingis to change. Anthony took the high road amid direct and indirect criticism from Jackson and amid consistent trade rumors.

"It's interesting how many people who are even somehow involved in all of this, have criticized it afterward as something so unprofessional. Just look at Melo, how he is handling things," Janis Porzingis said, according to the Eurohoops.net translation. "And I'm thinking, 'wait a minute.' In reality, if he for once decided to fight for something, we wouldn't be in this situation and Kristaps wouldn't be forced to take all the damage on himself. It wasn't done for some personal interest or ambitions or dislike for someone, it was for the sake of overall peace.

"It should have been a task for the team's leaders, but Melo and people around him never tried to change anything."

The relationship between Porzingis and the organization fractured in the offseason after Porzingis' skipped exit meeting and the Knicks' talks with other teams about potential Porzingis trades.

When asked about any lingering issues between he and the organization earlier this season, Porzingis has said that he's focused on this season and doesn't want to comment on the past.

Knicks president Steve Mills and general manager Scott Perry both attended practice on Thursday but declined comment on the matter. Head coach Jeff Hornacek said he sees no lingering issue between Porzingis and the organization and that there is no sign that Porzingis is unhappy.

"That's the past. We aren't worried about that," the coach said. "We started new this year and we're moving forward. That's all.

"I think KP has been great so far for us this year," he said. "He's being a leader on the court and off the court."

Bobby Marks contributed to this report.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/21265290/brother-new-york-knicks-kristaps-porzingis-janis-suggests-money-only-factor-forward-re-sign-team

But I disagree... he's saying its not about just money. Its about people, culture and doing things the right way. I think message is ok.

knicks1248 wrote:

fishmike wrote:kinda same thing here:
http://www.ultimateknicks.com/forum/topic.asp?t=57474

But I disagree... he's saying its not about just money. Its about people, culture and doing things the right way. I think message is ok.

so do I, the shot at melo's camp was so deserving...

what a lot ppl don't always realize is that really good players want to win, and melo told that to phil, and said he would trust the process, only the process didn't include him getting thrown under the bus for not committing to the triangle. I guess melo's thought process was to have phil take his cap space and find another star, learn the system and go from there.

knicks1248 wrote:

Knixkik wrote:His intent is to keep the Knicks on their toes about their franchise player. Agents do this. I don't see much here.

yeah, but if this team loses 60 games, its going to be a problem

The Knicks have his rights for a couple of years. Knicks can struggle these next 2 season and still get an extension if things came together in his final yr heading into UFA.

CrushAlot wrote:

newyorknewyork wrote:But I'm sure the environment is different with Phil, Melo, Rose all out. Might come off as an actual NBA franchise this season instead of a reality TV show. Which would be different from KPs first 2 yrs here.

Yeah. The rebelliousness is gone but apparently it wasn't rebellious enough for Janis.

Don't think they wanted more rebelliousness. As that would just create more dysfunction. Think he wanted leadership. Leadership would have pulled everyone together and tried to get everyone on the same page.

newyorknewyork wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:

newyorknewyork wrote:But I'm sure the environment is different with Phil, Melo, Rose all out. Might come off as an actual NBA franchise this season instead of a reality TV show. Which would be different from KPs first 2 yrs here.

Yeah. The rebelliousness is gone but apparently it wasn't rebellious enough for Janis.

Don't think they wanted more rebelliousness. As that would just create more dysfunction. Think he wanted leadership. Leadership would have pulled everyone together and tried to get everyone on the same page.

If not it shows that KP was not happy with Phil Jackson despite some people here claiming he loved the triangle or he was actually upset with Horny.

It shows he's not taking less than the max. If he continues to play like this that's ok.

The rest was fine but it's not great that these kind of talks which should be closed door are taking place via the media. KP needs to reign his brother in a bit.