LOS ANGELES — At times, 21-year-old Kristaps Porzingis sounds like a wizened veteran. He admits he wants to be a leader next season. Certainly Porzingis has been outspoken.
According to Porzingis, he thought the Knicks were doomed early, seeing a lot of talent in their newly formed Big 3 and a lot of alarming signs of a lack of teamwork and chemistry.
As the defensively inept Knicks face the Clippers on Monday to begin a four-game western trip, Porzingis, Carmelo Anthony and Derrick Rose will each suit up despite their team being all but mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. But Porzingis, who missed the Nets loss Thursday but practiced Sunday and expects to play against the Clippers despite his bruised thigh being “a little tight,” may not be paired with Rose and Anthony for much longer.
With the club at 27-42 and seven games out of the eighth seed with 13 games to play, the Knicks version of a Big 3 probably won’t be back next season. In fact, odds are only Porzingis returns. Rose is a free agent and Anthony is expected to land back on the trading block this summer.
The Clippers, whom the Knicks spoke to before the trade deadline, could be his next destination. Anthony didn’t return with the team to its hotel after Sunday’s practice, heading to his Los Angeles pad, and was unavailable for comment.
That left Porzingis to explain why the win-now experiment famously failed.
“I think it was pretty easy to tell from the inside that we’re not that good of a team,’’ Porzingis said at the team hotel. “We can win games based on our talent, but it’s not going to last long. [We needed] more work, attention to details, to keep growing as a team. A good team needs time to play together. It was our first year of most of the guys playing together. It never happens like that [where] you trade a couple of players and you’re a championship contender. It’s understandable we weren’t going to win the championship, but I could tell we weren’t there yet.’’
Last time the Knicks were at Staples Center, they beat the Lakers to move four games above .500 at 14-10. That was the first week of December. In January, Porzingis proved a soothsayer, sounding the first alarm, saying he had been worried about team chemistry even when above .500. The last thing he wanted was to be proven correct.
��Of course, we all expected big things out of this year, but from the beginning it didn’t feel like — I felt we’d make big runs, but we weren’t there at that level where we wanted to be,’’ Porzingis said. “We can see now we’re not where we want it to be.’’
The Knicks have had three days off since their humiliating home loss to the Nets — their second defeat to the NBA’s worst team in five days.
Rose, who spends his offseason in Los Angeles, felt the time out West would be beneficial. The team flew into Los Angeles on Saturday.
“It’s a relief be on the road together, build that bond we’ve been trying to build the entire year, coming here in nice weather, loosens guys up and makes them feel good,’’ said Rose, wearing his Hollywood shades.
Anthony will have to decide whether he wants to be in Los Angeles next season to play with buddy Chris Paul and former Knicks head coach Mike Woodson, a Clippers assistant. Four straight losing seasons for Anthony became cemented with Thursday’s loss to the Nets and he sounded miserable afterward.
Anthony’s 23-point scoring average doesn’t tell the story. He’s been mediocre on defense, not moving well, and his 43.6 percent shooting ranks third-worst among the league’s top 25 scorers. Anthony, ranked 19th in scoring, hasn’t played well off Porzingis despite their easy friendship. Also, Rose and the 7-foot-3 Latvian never established an on-court or off-court connection.
“Of course it’s tough for him,’’ Porzingis said. “Nobody wants to be losing, especially in New York. It’s extremely tough. That’s how it is. Melo does what he can for the team and city. Obviously he’s not happy either. Nobody’s happy with the results.’’
The thinking goes, if Anthony is traded, Porzingis can smoothly become the No. 1 option, though at times he hasn’t looked ready for the promotion.
“It will happen naturally,’’ Porzingis said. “I’ll keep growing as a player, keep working out, trying to become what I want to become. That will happen but I’m just focused on improving my game and learning how to be a leader.’’