Newly acquired Dallas Mavericks power forward Kristaps Porzingis took to Instagram on Sunday to offer some advice to New York Knicks fans.
According to ESPN.com's Ian Begley, Porzingis wrote, "The city deserves better than that.... My suggestion for Knicks fans is to STAY WOKE!! Peace."
Porzingis was shipped to Dallas this week along with Tim Hardaway Jr., Courtney Lee and Trey Burke in exchange for Dennis Smith Jr., DeAndre Jordan, Wesley Matthews and two first-round picks.
Per Begley, Knicks President Steve Mills said it became clear Porzingis "no longer wanted to be a part of our group" during a meeting Thursday.
Shortly thereafter, the trade with Dallas was consummated.
ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, Zach Lowe and Ramona Shelburne reported Porzingis expressed concern during the meeting to the Knicks front office about the team's lack of success and whether it would be able to turn things around.
New York has not reached the playoffs since 2012-13, and it hasn't won more than 32 games in a season since going 37-45 in 2013-14.
David Fizdale is the Knicks' fifth different head coach in the past six seasons when counting interim head coach Kurt Rambis' tenure in 2015-16.
At 10-41, the Knicks are the NBA's worst team this season, and they are in the midst of a 12-game losing streak.
Seemingly, one of the Knicks' few good decisions in recent years was the selection of Porzingis with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft.
Porzingis showed star potential in his first two seasons before being named an All-Star for the first time last season.
The 7'3" Latvian averaged 22.7 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.4 blocks in 48 games before tearing his ACL.
Porzingis has not played this season during his recovery from the injury.
With Porzingis no longer in the fold, the Knicks will look to take their rebuild in a different direction with Smith, Kevin Knox and a potential high pick in the 2019 NBA draft such as Zion Williamson or RJ Barrett leading the way.
