Burke said he didn?t want to speak for Porzingis, but gave enough hints that events during his former teammate?s four-minute meeting with Knicks president Steve Mills and general manager Scott Perry changed his view forever.
I don?t think he was happy at the time,?? Burke told The Post in the most revealing testimony yet about Porzingis? alleged trade demand. ?But I do think he wanted to stay. I think something happened at the meeting. I don?t know everything. Going into the meeting, KP had one type of understanding. After the meeting, there was a 180.
?I know once Knicks management and KP had that meeting, KP was out of New York because of what was said. I think he went into the meeting hoping, like, ?OK, what?s the plan for next year?? And something went wrong in that meeting and it just blew up. And that was the end of Porzingis.?
Burke shook his head over the reality that the keystone piece the Knicks received in the Dallas trade (other than cap space), Dennis Smith Jr., is currently coming off the bench.
?I?ve seen that [Smith] hasn?t been playing a lot,?? Burke said. ?You look at it now. Well, what was the point of it? You traded away our Unicorn, Tim [Hardaway Jr.] ??
?It was a new coaching staff in New York, trying to figure things out last year,?? Burke said. ?[In Philadelphia] it?s more established, the expectations are higher.
?As far as a winning culture, there?s a definite one [on the 76ers]. In New York they were trying to build one as well, but we weren?t there yet. We didn?t have enough talent at the time. We definitely had the heart. We weren?t where we wanted to be talent-
If Burke?s account is accurate, maybe the franchise?s future would look appetizingly different if the right things had been said at the four-minute meeting. Instead, it was another Black Friday at the Garden.
?I?ll let [Porzingis] tell his own story,?? Burke said. ?I know he still has some stuff to get off his chest.??