Kristaps Porzingis’ Defensive Impact Has Diminished
Given how well Kristaps Porzingis looks when he is moving offensive and his ability to play on the perimeter, you would expect some of that to translate to the defensive end. Unfortunately, that is not the case.
Porzingis is at his best playing power forward, but for his team to reach the next level, he has to be playing center and it is not something he has shown capable of doing. He can block shots at the rim, but once you get him into space, he is easy to take advantage of.
Teams punish the Mavericks by putting Porzingis into pick-and-roll situations. Even during his days with the Knicks, this was a weak point. He will sometimes sit back and allow the ball handler to shoot what amounts to an uncontested jump shot.
Or, if he comes up to hedge, he is not agile enough to recover on the roll man, putting him in a poor position and resulting in fouls. It is difficult to imagine his fluidity and agility improving much given his injury history.
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Porzingis is also an underwhelming rebounder for someone that is 7’3”. A defensive possession isn’t over until the defensive rebound is corralled. Dallas is in the bottom half of the NBA when it comes to surrendering offensive rebounds and the bottom third when it comes to total rebounds. Part of that can be attributed to Porzingis anchoring the defense at the center position.
