Cuban's rebuild came into focus with the trade, as Porzingis will team up with G Luka DoncicNBAE/GETTY IMAGES
The Mavericks' timetable to "return to the land of contenders just sped up considerably" with Thursday's news of the impending trade with the Knicks for F Kristaps Porzingis, according to Kevin Sherrington of the DALLAS MORNING NEWS. If he re-signs with the Mavs this offseason, Porzingis will "become a foundational piece" for the franchise. This time last year, the Mavs were a team "adrift, hoping that a raw young point guard might be enough to build around as the organization's icon played out his last days." Seven months later, the Mavs have "not just one heir" to F Dirk Nowitzki, but now they have "got two" in Porzingis and rookie G Luka Doncic. The Mavs are "mortgaging their future in one sense, but at the same time they're building" around two more. The franchise "may still feel like they couldn't attract marquee players this summer, so they went out and got one now" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 2/1). In Dallas, Brad Townsend writes the Porzingis trade "met every definition of blockbuster." The Mavs "fleeced the Knicks while setting a viable course to return to NBA elite status." The acquisition of Porzingis "shifted the Mavericks to 'win very soon' mode" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 2/1).
BACK IN THE GAME: In Ft. Worth, Mac Engel writes Mavs Owner Mark Cuban's "grand plan to rebuild the team" after it won the '11 NBA title was a "disaster until now." He and President of Basketball Operations Donnie Nelson just "pulled off the reversal of the Herschel Walker trade" (Ft. Worth STAR-TELEGRAM, 2/1). YAHOO SPORTS' Keith Smith wrote when Porzingis is ready to return after his ACL injury, he will "team with Doncic to form one of the NBA's most exciting young cores." Both play the "kind of aesthetically pleasing European-style basketball of which NBA fans have become fond" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 1/31).
