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Kristaps Porziņģis missed all of training camp after it was revealed that he is dealing with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), a condition that affects his heart. Golden State is getting by without him and moving forward. But when his absence was first announced, it caught the team off guard. "We were definitely caught off guard by it in that we were in communication with him over the summer, and it seemed like everything was in a good place right up until training camp,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said on 95.7 The Game's "Willard & Dibs." “And then obviously things went south. Since the start of camp, when he was not here and we had to move forward, I haven’t given it a whole lot of thought to be honest, because we’re just busy. We have to take every single day and get our team ready for the next game.”
Steve Kerr: “The days are full, the schedule is full, and so I check in with Kristaps occasionally to see how he’s doing. But we’re moving forward, and that’s all we can do. I like our young bigs, Graham [Ike] and Charles [Bassey]. We’re excited about playing those guys, and the opportunity that they’re going to receive, but everything else is not my jurisdiction. That’s Mike’s [Dunleavy] and the front office’s, and I just come to practice and I look forward to coaching the guys every day. We’re competing and seeing what we can put together.”
Kristaps Porzingis’ whereabouts have finally been revealed. And he’s doing it with a big smile on his face. With a doctor. On Wednesday, top Colombian orthodontist Dr. Bruno Pereira posted a photo on his Instagram of him and Porzingis standing next to each other. The caption reads: “Always a pleasure to treat a champion. Great having @kporzee in the chair – NBA champion, gentleman, and proof that big smiles come in big sizes.” Pereira’s post garnered 111 likes, 16 comments and 23 shares in the first six hours after it was made. Pereira’s comments section was flooded with outraged Warriors fans reacting to seeing their star center working on acquiring a new set of teeth instead of working his way back to the basketball court. “You had all offseason to do ts,” @liltommyttg_ wrote.
Team sources continue to express an extreme level of pessimism that Kristaps Porzingis will ever play for the Warriors again, but he could end up helping the organization in another way, because his contract, which is only guaranteed for $3 million next season, could still prove to be valuable in executing a trade. Here is everything we know as the situation remains in limbo.
Dunleavy has already gauged the temperature on the trade market, league sources said, but this is traditionally a quiet time in that respect. Front offices are typically in fact-gathering mode about their roster before making bigger-picture decisions closer to January and February. Right now, the Warriors are showing a willingness to remain patient with the Kristaps Porzingis contract and let the market materialize, league sources said. If Porzingis proves willing to give back a large chunk of money in a buyout, his expiring $20 million deal could become even more financially appealing for an eventual trade partner attempting to gain some financial benefit.
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After a meeting with Celebrini and Dunleavy in early October, the team sent out a statement declaring he would be around. It didn't last. Porzingis hasn't returned to the facility and the organization shifted his official status from out with "general illness" (as they'd listed during his absences last season) to "not with team," a purposeful change. This can no longer be described as an excused absence for the center. Porzingis' unwillingness to be present at the Warriors' facility could be deemed a failure to render his services -- a reality that has been raised internally, sources said -- and could be used in an attempt to void his entire contract. But that would present its own complications, unless Porzingis expressed an intention to retire and willingly gave all the money back.
How do you look at this challenge with you and the team managing Porzingis’ injury and the overall center position? Al Horford: “It is a big challenge for us. The way that I’m approaching it is that I have to do a little more. But Dray has to step up, I have to step up. Some of our younger guys are going to have more opportunities. Graham [Ike] and [Charles] Bassey are going to have to step in and play. At this point, that’s all we can do. I’ve been in a position on teams before where we all have to pick up the slack for others. This isn’t any different now.” How have KP’s spirits been with all of this? Horford: “I don’t know. I haven’t been able to check in with him on that."
“I wouldn’t necessarily say the news was a distraction yesterday more so than like you kind of have forgot about it. We’ve gone a whole training camp and preseason without him, so you’ve kind of just got accustomed to the guys who were there and then that news comes out and it just makes you think about it again. I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s the biggest distraction, but it does suck,” Draymond said on the Porzingis situation. “I saw Shams reported that the Warriors would be looking at a trade. Shams knows better than we do, so we’ll see what happens. I still wish him well. I hope he’s healthy. I hope he can get himself to a space health-wise that he feels great about, whether he plays basketball or not, it’s not my concern. I just always want people in good health. Having bad health sucks.”
Chef: Draymond talks about the Kristaps Porzingis news: "I wouldn't necessarily say the news was a distraction yesterday more so than like you kind of have forgot about it. We've gone a whole training camp and preseason without him, so you've kind of just got accustomed to the guys who were there and then that news comes out and it just makes you think about it again . . . I saw Shams reported that the Warriors would be looking at a trade. Shams knows better than we do, so we'll see what happens. I still wish him well. I hope he's healthy. I hope he can get himself to a space health-wise that he feels great about, whether he plays basketball or not, it's not my concern. I just always want people in good health. Having bad health sucks."
Anthony Slater on Kristaps Porzingis: Clearly, this is something as you mentioned that that Mike Dunleavy's called around the league and explored. And as you (Brian Windhorst) laid out, I think there was this immediate reaction of this combo report that said guy contemplating his future retirement potentially on the table. Also, Warriors trying to trade him. And there was a confusion of how. But yeah, it's an expiring deal with the Warriors have draft picks. They could take on future salary for a tradable first.
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Anthony Slater on Kristaps Porzingis: 'He played 15 of the last 20 games last year that had them like decently confident enough that they can maybe maintain his health to provide every other game type support for them this season. He was around the team in the week leading up to training camp. He went to this event with Jimmy Butler in San Diego, but if you talk to the players and people at that event, he wasn't getting on the court, he wasn't in the weight room. He would show up to kind of more of the dinners and the fun stuff, but it seemed clear right before camp that he was fading away from basketball, obviously dealing with his health issue and thinking about his future.'
Brian Windhorst: 'The Warriors started making calls looking for availability for Kristaps Porzingis’ trades and that all of a sudden popped up on the radar of Shams and others. That’s what happened here. And only in the NBA you know if this was another um another sport you know you heard a player was facing ing a career-threatening situation. You would say, "Oh, man, that's awful." But you wouldn't hear players facing a career-threatening situation and then he might get traded. You would say, "Well, this doesn't make sense. How could a player who may not play this year don't be traded?" Well, that's not the NBA. In the NBA, you have a player that now as he deals with this health thing, and we hope that he is able to find some resolution there, that contract now becomes something that the Warriors… They are in a tough spot now. They don't have a starting center and so now they've got to deal with it.'
Mark Medina: Stephen Cury on Kristaps Porzingis' absence: "It's a hard one for all reasons. For him personally, first and foremost. But us as a team, you have an idea of who you are coming into the season. We said availability was a big factor for our team with the guys that we already had out. There's no secret that spot is an important one for us, especially with his skillset."
Danny Emerman: Steve Kerr said the Warriors are hopeful Brandin Podziemski (back) will be in the lineup Thursday at home vs Memphis. Kerr didn’t have anything to add on Kristaps Porzingis, who is out indefinitely and won’t be with the team. “We don’t really know,” Kerr said.