Kristaps Porzingis has been a revelation for the New York Knicks. Since being drafted fourth overall last year, the Latvian big man has been nothing short of incredible, rivaling Karl-Anthony Towns as one of the best young prospects in the league.
Regardless of how good Porzingis is, however, the Knicks will have to surround him with talent in the near future to compete with the elite teams in the league. New York has been playing well with a combination of the sophomore and Carmelo Anthony leading the squad, but they are far away from being a truly great team.
Porzingis is not too worried about that, however, as he believes he will be able to recruit free agents to the Big Apple, soon. Following via Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News:
“I think (I’ll recruit players), yeah. Of course, you want to build a team around you so you can win, so you can go all the way and win the championship one day. Of course, that’s on everybody’s mind, I think, that’s in a position to do that.”
The Knicks have been unable to be major players in free agency for years now. Their big-name signing this summer was an aging Joakim Noah at a much higher price than most would expect. Their biggest acquisitions, including Anthony, have been via trade.
Porzingis is definitely a phenomenal prospect with lots of potential. But NBA free agents rarely make decisions based on potential. As good as Kristaps Porzingis has been, he’s going to need to be a little more established before it results in any free agency wins for New York.
