NBA Daily: Bobby Portis Ready For Anything After Hectic Offseason

NBA free agency can be a stressful time for players, that often goes without saying. It can be a waiting game as teams put their time and resources into the big-name guys, while the rest of the league is left to twiddle their thumbs until the dominoes begin to fall.

This offseason was no different as Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard and Kyrie Irving, among others, hit the open market. For players like Bobby Portis, who was experiencing free agency for the first time in his career, the initial process can seem like a whirlwind.

At the start of the 2018-19 season, Portis was entering the final year of his rookie contract with the Chicago Bulls. As a player who has improved every year since he started playing regular minutes, Portis was in line for a solid payday this summer.

Before the start of the season, Portis and the Bulls were unable to agree on a contract extension, so Chicago moved him to the Washington Wizards at the trade deadline. Several teams were interested in Portis once free agency hit, but the young big man came to a quick agreement with the New York Knicks.

Although he made his decision in the early days of free agency, the entire process was still a little hectic for Portis.

“It was crazy, every day hearing the different teams that were interested in me, really not knowing what’s going to happen,” Portis told Basketball Insiders. “Luckily, on the first day of free agency, I was able to pick where I wanted to go and it was a blessing. It was just kind of crazy leading up to it though, hearing from different teams and just not knowing. But I’m blessed.”

For the past several years, the Knicks have been on the lower end of the NBA’s totem pole and they last made the playoffs back during the 2012-13 season. Since then, it’s been lottery season after lottery season with seemingly nothing to show for it.

Things look like they might changing a bit, however. This past season’s lottery finish yielded a highly-touted prospect in R.J. Barrett. Last summer’s draft brought them Kevin Knox and Mitchell Robinson. While Knox remains raw, Robinson emerged as a legitimate building block for the future.

They also struck gold with Allonzo Trier, who went undrafted last summer. And David Fizdale, who will be entering his second year as head coach, has brought with him the same no-nonsense attitude and solid culture that he had in Memphis. In fact, it was conversations with Fizdale that really helped sway Portis to the Knicks.

“Just the feel, they have a great coach in David Fizdale, they got a lot of young pieces out there I think I can come in and fit with,” Portis told Basketball Insiders. “I love that they signed Julius [Randle], that’s another guy that can bang and really play at a high level. I love everything David was talking about with me in the meeting that I had with him.”

Portis wasn’t the only big free-agent addition that the Knicks added to their roster, actually making a flurry of signings once the period got underway. They addressed some of their playmaking and shooting woes with the additions of veterans like Wayne Ellington, Reggie Bullock and Elfrid Payton. They also bolstered their frontcourt with Julius Randle, Marcus Morris and Taj Gibson.

To some pundits out there, the Knicks’ free-agent moves came across as a head-scratcher, especially their frontcourt signings. While Gibson will undoubtedly come off the bench, Portis, Randle and Morris each have strong cases to be the starting power forward.

All three have very similar skillsets in terms of versatile big men that can do a little bit of everything on the court. Portis admits that it’ll be a challenge at first when it comes to establishing roles and figuring out minutes in the rotation but, ultimately, he’s confident it will all figure itself out.

“It’s going to be competitive every day, it’s going to be a grind, it’s going to be difficult at first, but I think as things slowly progress, it’s going to go really, really well for us. I think we’re going to be really good,” Portis told Basketball Insiders. “We got a lot of guys who can do a lot of different things with the basketball.

“In today’s NBA game, you need a lot of guys who can stretch the floor, shoot the ball, put the ball on the floor and make plays for others. I think we have a lot of versatile guys on our team and I think that’s where our team is at right now.”

When it comes to his own role in the team, Portis is confident about what he brings to the table. As the offseason winds to a close, and training camp right around the corner, he’ll be entering his fifth year in the NBA. He’s still only 24 years old with his best basketball ahead of him.

With massive steps forward every campaign, Portis has officially established himself as a legitimate stretch big man who can thrive in the modern landscape. This past season, he put up career-highs of 14.2 points per game, 8.1 rebounds and 39.3 percent shooting from three-point range.

With other versatile big men on the roster, Portis is willing to adapt to whatever role the Knicks ask him to play.

“I bring energy, I love to score the basketball, I can score from all three levels. Driving the basketball, shooting the three, posting up, finding the mismatch, just being who I am,” Portis told Basketball Insiders. “I think I’ve done a good job since I’ve been in the league of being who I am, knowing my role on the team and playing it to a tee. I think I can hone in on any role that Coach Fizdale wants me to play.”