Kristaps Porzingis returns, new Knicks descend upon New York

Ah, nothing like a nice, quiet, weekend!

Kristaps Porzingis flew home on Saturday in the midst of Melo-mania, and there is basically nothing that I’d have liked more than to have been a fly on the wall when his notifications started buzzing after he landed:

I guess more or less immediately after landing and getting caught up on the Carmelo news, KP was bothered at lunch by Frank Isola of the New York Daily News for an exclusive interview in advance of training camp:

"I am ready for the challenge," Porzingis told the Daily News in his first interview since returning to the United States on Saturday. "I've been preparing myself for this moment."

Kristaps is really, really looking forward to not having to hear the words “exit” and “interview” in tandem for a while:

The 22-year-old forward would only say, "Honestly, I would love for this year to be a new start. All I'm looking for is a fresh start and not to talk about that anymore."

In addition, KP gives zero (ze-fucking-ro) fucks about Anthony Randolph and his arm-pulling shenanigans:

"It's not worth talking about that guy," Porzingis said. "In every situation, I'm going to stand up for myself."

Despite losing Carmelo—one of the few players that’s been on the Knicks since day one with Porzingis—KP seems excited for the challenges ahead, and even had jokes on deck:

"Carmelo was a mentor to me," Porzingis said. "He was a big brother from day one. I texted him to tell him I appreciated that I was able to learn from him. Having him around was important for me. I respect him a lot. I also told him that if he doesn't bring his Rolls Royce with him, I'll take care of it."

OK but seriously though, why you gotta stir this pot, Frank?

The new face of the Knicks reiterated that "my dream is to be here my whole career," but Porzingis is also realistic considering the history of the franchise that is mired in losing and dysfunction.

"You never know what can happen," he said.

Ugh. Anyway, I don’t think that’s anything to worry about right now. It was good to hear from Kristaps, and I hope his lunch went and Frank didn’t accidentally drop any hair gel into his fettuccine.

All in all, it’s not like this was some huge feature interview or anything, but it’s good to know that Porzingis is saying that he’s at peace going into the season. His friendship with Carmelo was fairly well-documented over the last two years (although there was also some reports that Kristaps was ready to move on from Melo), so to be projecting the confidence in himself and the team before camp even begins is a good look for the new (official) face of the Knicks.

Meanwhile, our two newest goofy goobers hopped on a plane themselves today to head to the Big Apple:

I’m admittedly perplexed at how Kanter’s going to fit into the Knicks’ big man rotation—will he start next to KP? Will he be the first big off the bench?—but there’s no denying that this dude will be entertaining in Knicks orange and blue.

Meanwhile, Dougie McBuckets is Dougie MF’ing McBuckets and I’m hype for Steve Novak that can put it on the floor a little!

Anyway, welcome home KP, and welcome home new Knicks! Can’t wait for what will surely be an entertaining media day!