During his first press conference as the head coach of the Dallas Mavericks, Jason Kidd remarked just how excited he was to work with both Kristaps Porzingis and Luka Doncic, saying that the two were a perfect fit for each other.

“We’re excited about KP being healthy,” Kidd said. “I think he’s excited, ready to work, and I think you’re going to see a different KP.”

Seeing as many fans wanted to ship the big man out of town following his disastrous performance in the first round of the playoffs, a “different KP” is seemingly the best case scenario. Even though Mark Cuban tried to sugarcoat KP’s horrific showing in the postseason, blaming it on the role he was asked to play, the reality is the team’s number two option was relegated to nothing more than a decoy on the offensive end of the floor.

“I think (Porzingis) has been unfairly maligned,” Cuban said when the subject came up in the presser. “He did exactly what was asked of him in the postseason.”

Perhaps Cuban was just trying to show a bit of confidence in his $30 million a year player, but the entire problem is that the role KP was asked to play wasn’t that of a number two. If Kristaps were a true number two option, he wouldn’t have had a role that kept him away from the ball for stretches of the game.

Coach Kidd appears to have a lot of faith in the 25 year old Porzingis, and thinks that he has all the tools to be Luka’s running mate. A healthy summer working on his game, as opposed to rehabbing an injury, could prove the Mavs brass correct. Seeing as his current trade value couldn’t be lower for a guy on a max deal, hoping for a better KP in 2021-2022 is the only option.