Kristaps Porzingis Expected to Start Knicks Season Opener

Well, we’re less than a week away from the Knicks’ season opener in Milwaukee. There are still some issues that need to be settled — who fills out the back end of the roster, who makes up the rotation, etc. — but Derek Fisher has all but put to rest the questions about who will start. We already figured that Jose Calderon, Aaron Afflalo, Carmelo Anthony and Robin Lopez would be part of the lineup, but who’ll join them?

Can Porzingis bring back this look, please? (Seth Rosenthal/Posting & Toasting)

That’s right — that kid!

Kristaps Porzingis, the first-rounder out of Latvia, is expected to start at power forward at Boston on Thursday night. Barring injury, according to ESPN’s Ian Begley, Fisher will most likely use the same starting five against the Bucks next Wednesday. Selected with the fourth overall pick in June, the 20-year-old has averaged 7.3 points and 5.3 rebounds in three preseason games. While he’s shot an unimpressive 34% overall, he has knocked down 43% of his three-point attempts and has really impressed Knicks brass with his development so far.

I admittedly did not expect the 7-3 big man to start right away, given the transition he’s making from playing overseas to the NBA, but Fisher is making the right decision by trying to see what he can bring to the team right away. Derrick Williams, Kyle O’Quinn and Kevin Seraphin all have impressed so far and can slide into the PF slot at any given moment, but with Porzingis’ skill-set and promise he really has the most to gain by joining the starting lineup. The sky’s the limit for him and we should all be very excited to see what he will bring to the Knicks this season and going forward.

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If anyone is interested, the picture of Porzingis used for this article comes from the following video where his first basketball coach is interviewed for a Latvian sports show. The video contains English subtitles and is a solid watch.

httpss://youtu.be/TqPTxhQjFRU