By WFAN.com
The Knicks could face some stiff competition to sign Kristaps Porzingis this summer when their star big man becomes a restricted free agent.
Citing league front-office sources, The Ringer's Kevin O'Connor reported Tuesday that the San Antonio Spurs have "significant interest" in Porzingis, although creating the necessary cap space to sign him could prove to be difficult.
The Knicks can offer Porzingis a contract worth around $158 million over five years, while other teams could give him a max deal of four years, $122.1 million. Although, the Daily News' Stefan Bondy recently reported the Knicks might offer Porzingis a contract for less than the max value with injury protections that make the deal not fully guaranteed.
The Knicks would be able to match any offer Porizingis receives.
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Porzingis, 23, has not played since tearing his ACL in February. The Knicks could have signed him to early contract extension last summer but elected not to do so to save about $10 million in cap space in 2019, money that can potentially be spent on a max free agent such as Kevin Durant.
Porzingis, the fourth overall pick in the 2015 draft, was enjoying an All-Star season when he got hurt last year, averaging a career-high 22.7 points per game.
The Spurs already have about $111 million committed to 12 players next season, meaning they'd have to jettison some players to fit Porzingis under the cap.
The Nets are another team to watch when it comes to Porzingis. Bondy reported that Brooklyn GM Sean Marks is high on the 7-foot-3 Latvian, noting that Marks has a history of making big-money offers to restricted free agents.
