The day the Golden State Warriors season begins, the team is already reportedly looking to trade Kristaps Porzingis because the out-of-action center is considering retiring and ghosting the team.
According to Shams Charania and Anthony Slater of ESPN, the Warriors are “exploring trade routes” to move Porzingis, who is out indefinitely with a health issue related to his past diagnosis of postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS). According to Charania, “stepping away from basketball – for good – is possible” for the Latvian center.
When the Warriors signed the big man to a two-year, $40 million contract this summer, he was expected to be the team’s starting center. Golden State officials made no other major decisions, relying on general manager Mike Dunleavy’s sentiment late last season that the Warriors were competitive with the top of the NBA until they lost Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody to season-ending injuries.
Given his condition, the Warriors smartly built a little escape hatch into Porzingis’ contract — although it remains to be seen whether it will actually open when they need it. The contract is for a flat fee of $20 million for each season, making it instantly tradeable, and also only guarantees $3 million for next year. Because of this, he can be treated as an expiring contract – something some NBA teams love as a way to free up salary cap space and get rid of long bad contracts – and could make it easier to find a trade partner. With a salary cap of $165 million now and rising next year, paying $3 million while cutting Porzingis to open a roster spot would be a pittance for other teams. But all of this assumes that the Warriors, who traded for a guy with a monumental asterisk in the first place, can 1) make a deal and 2) are willing to also send additional compensation to Porzingis’ side if necessary.
The icing on the cake, however, seems to be the fact that the Warriors seem frustrated with how Porzingis is handling his absence.
When the Warriors announced his indefinite absence after meeting with Dunleavy and Rick Celebrini, the team’s famous vice president of player health and performance, the team said Porzingis was expected to remain at the team’s facilities. (The same day, Porzingis released a statement in which he responded in part to Internet trolls and conspiracy theorists by asserting that he did not have HIV or AIDS.) But according to ESPN, Porzingis has not been with the team since the start of training camp, except for a single day meeting with the team.
Hours after ESPN’s initial report, the Warriors released a statement Wednesday saying the team “does not expect Kristaps to be with the team in the immediate future,” confirming ESPN’s reporting of his absences.
The Warriors begin their 2026-27 NBA season on Wednesday night, facing the Lakers at 7 p.m. on ESPN.
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