Kristaps Porzingis has only played three games since being acquired from Dallas last month, but the Wizards are encouraged by what they’ve seen, writes Ava Wallace of The Washington Post. Porzingis was sidelined by knee soreness at the time of the trade and didn’t start playing until Sunday. He has averaged 19.3 points and 6.7 rebounds in 24.3 minutes per night and has contributed as a rim protector and play-maker as well.
“It’s tough, it’s been a handful of games, so he’s still trying to work his way through it. He’s going to have some big nights and he’s going to struggle at times, just like everybody else,” coach Wes Unseld Jr. said. “But he’ll find that level of consistency, it’ll even out. He’s too good of a player.”
Porzingis has barely practiced since coming to Washington, Wallace notes, so he’s still trying to develop chemistry with his new teammates. He will miss tonight’s game at Portland for precautionary reasons because it’s the second night of a back-to-back, but Unseld doesn’t expect him to have any more restrictions for the rest of the season.
“Of course, I want to play and have longer stretches of playing,” Porzingis said. “Sometimes it kind of creeps in your mind and you want to force some things out there because, ‘Ah, I might be coming out in a couple minutes,’ so I just [need] to have that calmness and knowing that I’m going to get there. I just need to stay focused and play the right way.”
There’s more on the Wizards:
- The five-team trade that Washington was part of last summer continues to evolve, observes Josh Robbins of The Athletic. Although there’s a perception that the Wizards got the better of the deal because Russell Westbrook has struggled with the Lakers, the pieces they got in return have already changed significantly. Spencer Dinwiddie, Montrezl Harrell and Aaron Holiday were all shipped out at the trade deadline.
- Westbrook’s desire to go home and play for the Lakers sparked that five-team deal, but he had a much better situation in Washington, contends Candace Buckner of The Washington Post. Westbrook became a team leader after sparking the Wizards to a late-season surge that got them into the play-in tournament last season, Buckner points out. He also had an All-Star backcourt partner in Bradley Beal who was willing to adjust to his style of play.
- Jordan Schakel‘s new two-way contract will cover two seasons, tweets JD Shaw of Hoops Rumors.