Mavericks want Porzingis and Doncic together for '20 years', says Cuban

New York, February 5: Mark Cuban hopes Kristaps Porzingis and Luka Doncic remain in Dallas for the foreseeable future.

The Mavericks acquired Porzingis, along with three other players, from the Knicks last week in exchange for a package centred around Dennis Smith Jr. as well as the expiring contracts of DeAndre Jordan and Wesley Matthews. New York also received two first-round picks in the deal.

Cuban, the Mavericks' long-time owner, discussed the future of Porzingis and rookie star Doncic at a news conference on Monday (February 4).

"Our goal is to be able to keep those two together for the next 20 years," Cuban told reporters.

Porzingis suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in February 2018 and has not played this season.

Cuban said the plan is to hold him out the rest of 2018-19. He will then become a restricted free agent.

"I feel great but, as I said, we're taking our time," Porzingis said about the rehab process. "There's no rush. I've been patient this whole time and I'm going to keep staying patient, which is one of the hardest things for me to do. We're going to make the right decisions."

Porzingis has averaged 17.8 points and 7.1 rebounds over 186 career appearances.

Meanwhile, Doncic is the frontrunner for the Rookie of the Year award and is tallying 20.7 points, along with seven rebounds, per game this season.