So what if the New York Knicks are only six games into their season? And so what if, despite winning three in a row, they aren’t expected to contend for a playoff spot?
Kristaps Porzingis belongs in the early-season MVP discussion…according to Knicks fans who were chanting “M-V-P” as he stepped to the free-throw line towards the end of New York’s Monday win over the Denver Nuggets.
Oh, and according to Enes Kanter, too.
From the New York Post‘s Mike Vaccaro:
His teammates heard the chants. And while intellectually they know — as did the folks doing the chanting — that it’s a laughably premature sentiment, they also know who their meal ticket is.
“He should be an MVP,” said center Enes Kanter, who himself is becoming quite a Garden favorite, who teamed with Kyle O’Quinn to give the Knicks 27 points and 21 rebounds from the center position. “I’m just throwing it out there.”
The notion seems crazy. It is crazy.
And yet:
Kristaps Porzingis is just the 4th player in @NBA history to be age 22 or younger and score 30+ PTS in 5 of his first 6 games of a season. pic.twitter.com/yzcTUgsrno
— NBA.com/Stats (@nbastats) October 31, 2017
Porzingis is averaging 29.3 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game on 47.8 percent shooting shooting overall and a 36.4 percent clip from beyond the arc—all career highs. He needs to do a better job of making passes out of double-teams, and his rim protection would be even better if he was allowed to spend more time at center, but his performance thus far has been refreshing for a Knicks squad that desperately needed him to prove he could grow as its alpha.
But let’s be real: Porzingis isn’t getting MVP love. The Knicks are still getting outscored by 1.5 points per 100 possessions with him in the game—nearly identical to their performance without him (minus-2.0). And while that isn’t a death knell for his value, it does speak to a larger issue: New York isn’t good enough to vault Porzingis into the discussion.
Russell Westbrook paved the way for stars on mediocre teams to win the Maurice Podoloff Trophy. Lottery squads, however, are a different issue. For so long MVP winners have gone to the best player on one of the two or three best teams. Rewarding someone who probably won’t headline a 35-win faction would be a complete reinvention. Westbrook’s victory hasn’t opened that door.
Still, if it’s any consolation for optimistic Knicks fans, Porzingis feels like a shoo-in for the All-Star game. And beyond that, once the Knicks are good enough, he’s showing he, too, is good enough to get MVP attention.
