Kristaps Porzingis looks forward to forming a “nightmare” of a duo with Mavs teammate Luka Doncic.
Porzingis says their two-man game “can really mess up team defenses.”
Dallas will load manage the big fella this season, who reports feeling “great physically” after recovering from a torn left ACL suffered on Feb. 6, 2018.
“I think it’s going to be pretty simple; just the two-man game,” he said. “Whatever it is, pick-and-roll; pick and pop. We’re going to have to read each other. That’s where I think we’re going to have to find out that chemistry, where he knows when I’m going to pop and when I’m going to roll.”
Porzingis noted that he and Doncic used to play EuroLeague games against one another and that they both speak Spanish and have become close off the court, so it’s Porzingis’ belief that their two-man onslaught is a matter of when, not if.
“We can really mess up team defenses like that,” he said. “If they want to switch, he can attack the mismatch; or I can attack the mismatch. I think it could be a nightmare for the teams going forward. We just have to develop that chemistry on the floor.”
Porzingis weighed 223 pounds when the Knicks made him the No. 4 overall pick of the 2015 draft. He bulked up to 235 pounds during his rookie season, but it wasn’t all muscle, nor was it well-distributed on his then-thin frame.
“I didn’t want to put on too much weight for a brand-new knee, so everything had to be calculated,” Porzingis said. “And at the end, we got here, close to the season, at the exact weight we wanted to be at and feel the exact way I wanted to feel. It’s only the beginning. It’s not that I’ve achieved something. I’ve gained a few pounds and feel stronger and so on, but this is nonstop work that we’re going to be putting in.”
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