The president of the New York Knicks, Steve Mills, referred to the team’s decision to trade Kristaps Porzingis to the Dallas Mavericks.
Here is what Mills said in a conference call:
On the decision to trade Porzingis: “We feel like we did the right thing. When you try to think about how you want to build your team for the long term, you don’t want to commit a max [contract] to a player who clearly says to you he doesn’t want to be here.
That would be a disservice for our organization and disservice to our fans.”
On the meeting with the Latvian power forward/center on Thursday (31/01): “When the meeting occurred this morning, we’d already been having many conversations with a number of teams. So we decided to act upon one.”
On how the team is planning to cover the gap, as they now have more than $70M in salary cap space: “We’re going to be prudent in how we use that room because we’re still consistent in building this team through the draft and with young players.
And when there is an opportunity, to add a free agent, that certainly is one of the tools that we have in our toolbox.”
