MINNEAPOLIS — There’s no Sophomore of the Year Award, but if there were, the Knicks’ Kristaps Porzingis and the Timberwolves’ Karl-Anthony Towns would be running about dead even.
The two towering players with dazzling moves, who forever will be linked as the best players coming out of the 2015 draft, are forging a lasting friendship. The 7-foot-3 Porzingis told The Post he hopes they will work out together this summer as he spends less time in his native Latvia. The two big men (Towns is 7-feet tall) have similarly versatile games.
Porzingis and Towns, the No. 1-overall pick from northern New Jersey who was a landslide winner of the 2016 Rookie of the Year Award, hit it off in the week leading to the draft and in the array of functions after the draft. Having spent so little time in the United States before being drafted, Porzingis said he found Towns, who starred for one year at Kentucky, went out of his way to make him feel at home, especially during the Rookie Transition Program.
“I always had a lot of questions for him about college, he had a lot of questions for me coming from Europe,’’ Porzingis said last weekend. “We interacted a lot. We’re staying in contact, text a lot. We always look forward to the next opportunity to play each other.”
That comes Wednesday and Friday in a home-and-home beginning at Target Center.
“He’s playing at a real high level, he’s going to be a big star in this league and I’m looking forward to having a long rivalry against him,’’ Porzingis said.
At practice Tuesday, Porzingis, who was runner-up to Towns for Rookie of the Year after being taken No. 4, kept up the superlatives.
“He can do anything he wants on the floor,’’ Porzingis said. “He can shoot from outside, drive from outside, postgame, big strong rebounder.”
In truth, Towns has gone through a rough patch adjusting to new Minnesota coach Tom Thibodeau’s defensive schemes and got emotional in the locker room following a home loss to the Jazz on Monday, blaming himself for the Timberwolves’ 5-12 start.
“All these losses fall on my shoulders,’’ Towns said. “It’s something I have to fix. So far this season it’s been me. Does it make sleeping at night hard? Yeah. I just have to do more. I have to play at a higher level, at a level where we can’t lose.’’
Porzingis also has struggled on defense this season, but he is putting up spectacular numbers — 20.9 points on 48.7 percent shooting and 7.1 rebounds. Towns is averaging 21 points on 48.6 percent shooting and 9.0 rebounds. The two excelled when they faced each other last season. Towns posted 25 points and 10 boards, but Porzingis recorded seven blocks in a Knicks victory over the Timberwolves last season at the Garden.
“He’s a little different but some things we’re kind of similar at,’’ Porzingis said. “But I really love his game, I really love his aggressiveness.”
— Additional reporting by Fred Kerber