New York Knicks president Steve Mills said Kristaps Porzingis told him during a 5 minute meeting that he no longer wanted to be part of the team.

"We feel like we did the right thing. When you try to think about how you want to build your team for the long term, you don't want to commit a max [contract] to a player who clearly says to you he doesn't want to be here. That would be a disservice for our organization and disservice to our fans," said Mills.

General manager Scott Perry added that the Knicks had started trade discussions with other teams for Porzingis in the days leading up to the trade. 

"When the meeting occurred this morning, we'd already been having many conversations with a number of teams. So we decided to act upon one," said Perry.