The New York Knicks selected Kristaps Porzingis with the No. 4 pick in June’s 2015 NBA draft in New York. Some hated the pick, while others — like myself and team President Phil Jackson — simply felt he wouldn’t make an immediate impact.
We were wrong.
Porzingis averaged 10.7 points, 4.8 rebounds and one block in 33 games for Cajasol Seville in the Spanish league during the 2014-15 season en route to being named the 2014-15 Eurocup rising star. He also averaged 11.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.2 blocks for Cajasol Seville in 16 Eurocup games. In the NBA, where he is facing much stiffer competition, he is averaging 12.8 points, 8.6 rebounds and 1.5 blocks over 25.3 minutes a game.
[Knicks fans sure aren’t booing Porzingis anymore]
“Everybody was saying that I was a project, to wait a few years,” Porzingis said after scoring a career-high 29 points and collecting 11 rebounds against Charlotte on Tuesday night. “I will get better in a few years, but I knew I was able to play right now. That was my mentality.”
Right now, Porzingis leads the team in rebounds, is second on the team in points per game, and ranks third in the percentage of team possessions used (25 percent), behind Carmelo Anthony (30.3 percent) and Derrick Williams (28.7 percent).
In the lottery era, there have been two rookie forwards who have met the following criteria: born outside the United States, qualified for the scoring title and were used in excess of 25 percent of their team’s possessions. That would be Tim Duncan and Porzingis. Duncan, of course, played four years at Wake Forest.
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If we widen that net to non-college forwards who used 20 percent of their team’s possessions while qualifying for the scoring title in their rookie year, we get Porzingis and the following players:
- Pau Gasol
- Dino Radja
- Nikola Mirotic
- Toni Kukoc
- Dirk Nowitzki
Nowitzki was named to 12 all-NBA teams, won most valuable player honors for his performance during the 2006-07 season and again in the Finals when the Mavericks won the championship in 2011. During his rookie year, he played 47 games, averaging 8.2 points, 3.4 rebounds and 0.6 blocks, accumulating a total of 0.8 wins above replacement. Porzingis has 0.8 wins above replacement in his first 12 games, giving him a much higher win shares per 48 minute rate.
It’s only been 12 games and Porzingis has some work to do on many aspects of his game, but for now, he is better than anyone expected.
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