It is a deep crisis for Dennis Smith Jr, who joined the New York Knicks a little over a year ago, in the trade with the Mavericks that brought Kristaps Porzingis to Dallas. On the bottomless crisis of Smith Jr, there is little to discuss: a player who has lost confidence in his means, in a poor, losing context. In a season and a half as a Knicks player, Smith Jr has done everything. Smith Jr had minutes as a starter, tasted the hard bench, the punitive one, the technical one and much more.
Porzingis Reborn
In the meantime, Kristaps Porzingis, whose love for the city and the Knicks leadership has never blossomed, had announced after his trade request and his move to the Mavericks, that he would explain the real reasons for his decision. The Latvian never followed up on his cryptic Instagram posts, but basically let the facts speak for him. In Texas, Porzingis appears to have been reborn. He is the perfect teammate for Doncic, and his way of playing has totally changed. The game, though little that Porzingis did in New York, is not suitable for his physical and the NBA today. Rick Carlisle had declared it well last December, and now, Porzingis, used in the right way, is one of the pillars of the Mavs, with the Knicks who instead are in total despair.
