2 min read • February 12, 2022
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The Mavericks and Wizards completed one of the more surprising and at the same time underwhelming deals of the NBA trade deadline in swapping Kristaps Porzingis for Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans.
While neither side significantly moved the needle, each team got rid of a player with a troubling injury history and got back in return a different player with a similarly concerning medical history.
Both Porzingis and Dinwiddie present worrisome potential for future injuries in their right knees – along with Porzingis' left knee – and are not stable long-term options to help the teams compete, our ProBasketballDocs say.
Both players will have had to pass a team physical for the trade to finalize, but the fact that each team wanted to rid themselves of talented young players in the midst of knee problems is telling in and of itself.
The 26-year-old Porzingis has missed 22 games this season with right knee issues seemingly related to the meniscus he had surgically repaired in October 2020. The meniscus tear, Feb. 2018 ACL tear in his other knee, and current recurring left knee issues all paint a murky health picture.
Porzingis has been unavailable since suffering a bone bruise versus Indiana on Jan. 29, although a Feb. 9 report from freelance NBA correspondent Marc Stein said the team was optimistic he would return soon.
Porzingis posted on his Instagram on Feb. 8 that he was "getting closer!!!" to playing, although he is seemingly in a constant cycle of getting closer: since Oct. 2017, Porzingis has played in 192 of a possible 377 regular season and playoff games, barely over 50%.
In 34 games this season, he is averaging 19.2 points with 7.7 rebounds and 1.7 blocks on 45% shooting.
Spencer Dinwiddie, the new Mavericks' guard who will couple with Luka Doncic and Jalen Brunson, is struggling this season coming off of a torn right ACL to the tune of 12.6 points, 4.7 rebounds and 5.8 assists on .376/.310/.811 shooting splits, all down from his career stats.
The 28-year-old signed a 3-year, $54 million contract last August only 9 months removed from suffering a partially-torn right ACL 3 games into the 2020-21 season.
His past tear – and its partial nature – raises the potential for a future full ACL tear, along with the knee soreness and arthritis that has plagued many guards, even those closer to his 6'6", 215-pound stature.
Hopefully Porzingis and Dinwiddie can stay healthy and manage their injuries, but their past and present paint worrisome pictures for their future.
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