Even though the New York Knicks swung and miss on a number of big-name free agents including the likes of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, they are still managing to piece together a solid offseason. The Knicks added even more help on the first day of free agency, as ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports that Bobby Portis will head to New York on a two-year, $31 million deal.
Free agent Bobby Portis has agreed to a two-year, $31M deal with the Knicks, agent Mark Bartelstein tells ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 1, 2019
While Bobby Portis isn’t exactly a name that Knicks fans were clamoring about prior to free agency, he is a solid stretch big, and his age of only 24 years old coincides with the Knicks’ plans to rebuild. Portis will join Julius Randle and Taj Gibson as frontcourt pieces the Knicks have already signed in free agency.
Portis was traded midseason last year, heading over to the Washington Wizards as part of the Otto Porter deal. Though Portis was decent statistically with Chicago, he never truly fit in there and was able to increase his per-game averages across the board once he was traded. Portis averaged 14.3 points and 8.6 rebounds in his 28 games with Washington.
Now Portis will head to the Knicks where he will likely form a frontcourt duo with Julius Randle. The Knicks have other big man options as well, including the aforementioned Taj Gibson and second-year standout Mitchell Robinson. It’ll be interesting to see how Portis fits in New York and where they go from here after missing out on most of their desired free agent options.
