DALLAS -- The first half of the season wasn't much fun for Kristaps Porzingis.
He missed the Dallas Mavericks' first nine games while recovering from surgery to repair the meniscus injury in his left knee that forced Porzingis to sit out the final few games of his first NBA playoff series. His struggles, particularly defensively, ranked as perhaps the second-most significant factor (after a COVID-19 outbreak that hit half the rotation) in Dallas being arguably the league's most disappointing team six weeks into the season.
And Porzingis heard his name pop up in the trade rumor mill.