Kristaps Porzingis was sitting on the bench at Barclays Center on Monday night watching his new teammates absorb a 127-88 loss to the Nets<\/a>. The former Knick isn\u2019t going to be doing much else anytime soon. Seldom has a guy who wasn\u2019t in uniform caused such a fuss.<\/p>\n Porzingis looked good in a purple shirt, gray suit and Gucci loafers. How he looks in a Mavericks uniform won\u2019t be known until next season when he takes the court again.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s a franchise-type talent,\u201d Mavericks veteran Dirk Nowitzki said of Porzingis. \u201cHim and Luka [Doncic] will hopefully play off each other for a long, long time and have a great career together.\u201d<\/p>\n Nowitzki\u2019s 20-year career is coming to end<\/a>, which is why Barclays Center showered him with a standing ovation in the final minutes of the blowout. The Mavs future belongs to Porzingis, whose new life in Dallas seems to be going quite nicely according to Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s doing a lot of stuff behind the scenes,\u201d Carlisle said before the game. \u201cWhat I\u2019ve learned about him is he\u2019s a tremendous talent; he\u2019s a great kid; he\u2019s meticulous in how he approaches things. He\u2019s very detailed and extremely hard-working and organized with everything he does. Those are all the traits of a guy who has a chance to be tremendously great.\u201d<\/p>\n The Knicks also thought Porzingis had a chance to be tremendously great until the 7-foot-3 jump-shooter from Latvia tore his left ACL a year ago and didn\u2019t play this season before apparently informing the Knicks he didn\u2019t want to be part of their long-term future. The fourth-overall pick in the 2015 draft was subsequently traded to the Mavericks on Jan. 31 along with Trey Burke, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Courtney Lee for two future first-round picks and DeAndre Jordan, Wesley Matthews and Dennis Smith Jr.<\/p>\n Hardaway said he learned of the trade through his agent.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t find out from them at all,\u201d Hardaway said, referring to the Knicks front office. \u201cIt goes to show.\u201d<\/p>\n Hardaway, who had seven points Monday night, later heard from Knicks coach David Fizdale and let him and other know the trade was premature.<\/p>\n \u201cI let them know what we had was special,\u201d Hardaway said. \u201cI really think they didn\u2019t give us an opportunity to have K.P. come back. It is what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Luka](\"https:\/\/thenypost.files.wordpress.com\/2019\/03\/usa_nba_basketball.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=300)
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