Kristaps Porzingis Does Not Need to Play Center — Yet

Once again, a star Knicks player doesn’t want to play his most effective position. This time, that’s OK — for now. An excerpt:

Yes, the Knicks will likely be better offensively and defensively this season if Porzingis plays center. And yes, Porzingis himself will likely be more effective offensively and defensively if he plays center this season. But first of all, the Knicks probably don’t want to be better at anything this season other than losing. And second of all, Porzingis could continue playing 25-ish percent of his total minutes at center between now and the end of his probable max extension, and it could still wind up being his primary position over the course of his career.

The kid just turned 22 years old! He’s going to be in the league for 10–15 more seasons barring injury, and he won’t hit his physical prime until sometime around 2022. If he spends the next couple years playing power forward most of the game, then moving to center when opposing teams downshift late (which is happening more and more anyway), it’s not the end of the world. Even the NBA’s best four that sometimes plays five (Draymond Green) doesn’t actually do it all that much. Granted, his team is awesome and doesn’t actually need him to play center that much and he’s not 7-foot-3, but the Warriors’ primary reason for not making Draymond their full-time center (too much banging) is similar to (one of) the reason(s) why Kristaps doesn’t want to do it.

And really, that’s fine for now. Let Porzingis play the four and figure out how to be a №1 offensive option. Let him get comfortable with both the idea and the physicality of becoming a full-time center over the course of the next couple seasons. As he grows into his body and has to devote more of his energy to carrying the offense, it’ll eventually become clear that being closer to the basket more of the time is the way he can make the most impact on defense; and if the league keeps shifting toward the perimeter, maybe there won’t be all that much banging and physicality at the position by the time he’s ready to become a full-time five anyway.

Read the full story at VICE Sports.