The Dallas Mavericks and Kristaps Porzingis have agreed to a guaranteed five-year max contract worth $160 million. Shams Charania of The Athletic reported the initial agreement while ESPN’s Tim MacMahon adds the major distinction that the deal won’t have any sort of injury-related clauses.
Porzingis missed the entire 2018-19 campaign and much of 2017-18 after suffering a torn ACL. Those knee concerns weren’t the 7’3″ unicorn’s first health issues either.
The relative uncertainty surrounding Porzingis’ health led some to believe that the uniquely talented big could be a candidate for a milestone-based max contract like the one that Joel Embiid inked back in 2017.
In 48 2017-18 games, Porzingis averaged 22.2 points and 6.6 rebounds per game, modest numbers made somewhat remarkable when you sprinkle in the .395 he shot from beyond the arc (on 4.8 attempts per game) and 2.4 blocks per game.
Porzingis was acquired by the Mavericks in a mid-season trade with the Knicks last February. He’ll join Luka Doncic in 2019-20 in one of the league’s most anticipated young duos.
