The Golden State Warriors are waiting on center Kristaps Porzingis, who has been absent from the team with no clear timeline for a return, and the front office is exploring trade options while he weighs his future. The situation looms over a 1-3 start that has put the Warriors in a murky position.
On opening night of his 15th NBA season, Draymond Green, generously listed at 6-foot-6, started at center despite the organization’s understanding of the accumulated toll that position takes on his 36-year-old body. Two nights later, the Warriors gave Green a physical reprieve against the Memphis Grizzlies’ jumbo front line. Circumstances forced them to start Graham Ike, a two-way undrafted center out of Gonzaga, in only his second career game. Al Horford, in his 20th season, could not handle bigger minutes.
Green still ended up on the floor in the late moments, when he tried to box out 7-4 Zach Edey. After failing to wall him off on a defensive rebound, Green committed a crucial frustration foul as the Warriors blew a 12-point lead and fell to 0-2 for the first time since 2020-21.
“We got what we got,” Green said when asked about the eroded state of the Warriors’ center position. “So we got to make it do what it do.”
Team sources say the Warriors believe part of the reason for their 37-45 finish a season ago was a woe-is-me attitude about the schedule and injury misfortune. This season, they have adopted a deliberate no-excuse approach.
That approach has meant an out-of-sight, out-of-mind strategy regarding the ongoing absence of presumed starting center Kristaps Porzingis, who was re-signed this summer despite missing 90 games over the past two seasons with three different teams. Shortly after Porzingis called out of work one day before training camp, the front office instructed Steve Kerr to prepare the team as if Porzingis were a nonfactor. Only general manager Mike Dunleavy and lead medical decision maker Rick Celebrini have communicated with Porzingis during his absence. Kerr has bristled at nearly every question about him in recent weeks.
“I don’t know,” Kerr said when asked for a recent update. “I don’t really have anything else to add on this.”
The decision to make a $20 million commitment to Porzingis this offseason looms large over the team’s 1-3 start and its uncertain path forward. On opening night, the Warriors were also reported to be exploring possible trade routes. Opposing center Walker Kessler dunked 10 times, the most in a game by a Los Angeles Lakers center since Shaquille O’Neal in 2003.
After the game, the typically diplomatic Stephen Curry was asked about Porzingis’ indefinite absence and its impact on the team.
“Aggggh,” Curry said, tapping on the table as his frustration showed. “It’s a hard one for all reasons.”
Curry twice emphasized the human side of the situation, expressing sympathy for Porzingis, who has said publicly that he still feels lingering effects from an upper respiratory viral illness he contracted while with the Boston Celtics two seasons ago.
“We always said availability was a big factor for our team with all the guys we have out,” Curry said. “It’s no secret that the [center] spot is an important one for us, especially with his skill set. It’s hard to talk about without keeping the humanity of it in mind. But it is a tough one to figure out.”
Team sources continue to express extreme pessimism that Porzingis will ever play for the Warriors again. Still, his contract, which is guaranteed for only $3 million next season, could prove valuable in executing a trade.
How did Porzingis and the Warriors get here?
Porzingis’ current salary slot was created during the summer of 2025, during one of the strangest restricted free agency standoffs in recent memory. Dunleavy and the Warriors were uneasy about committing long-term to Jonathan Kuminga, but they felt he still held more value and upside than the sign-and-trade offers on the table.
The Warriors stood firm in negotiations and eventually compromised with Kuminga on a two-year, $46.8 million deal. The contract included a team option and a requirement that Kuminga waive his implicit no-trade clause. The team hoped he would contribute, but it made its motives clear enough during talks that Kuminga’s side felt he was being turned into a human trade exception.
In February, the Warriors flipped his contract to Atlanta for Porzingis’ expiring $30.7 million deal. They maintained salary flexibility and believed they could manage Porzingis’ health well enough to get production from him.
It worked decently at first. Porzingis appeared in 15 of the team’s last 20 games and averaged 16.1 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.1 blocks. That gave the front office and medical staff enough confidence to approve a two-year, $40 million extension in late June for a player who said he wanted to continue his NBA career.
The Warriors knew the move carried major risk, so they built in protections by guaranteeing only $3 million of the $20 million in the second season. They also structured the extension so Porzingis could be traded immediately rather than waiting until Dec. 15.
Dunleavy and the Warriors believed Porzingis would be an available rotation piece for stretches of the schedule, not just a tradable contract. Before camp, the coaching staff spoke enthusiastically about a front line of Lendeborg, Green and Porzingis.
Porzingis was in the practice facility getting court work the week before training camp, and he attended Jimmy Butler’s player-led event in San Diego in late September. Optimism faded there, however. Team sources in attendance described him as indifferent and uninterested in taking part in scrimmages and strenuous on-court work, a clear warning sign of what was coming.
What are the Warriors’ options with Porzingis?
Porzingis called Dunleavy and stepped away from the team on the eve of training camp, citing what the team deemed a private health matter. The Warriors gave him some space at first but expected him to return to the facility and be around his teammates and the medical staff.
After a meeting with Celebrini and Dunleavy in early October, the team issued a statement saying he would be around. That did not last. Porzingis has not returned to the facility, and the organization changed his official status from out with “general illness,” as it listed his absences last season, to “not with team.” The team made that change on purpose, and it means the absence can no longer be described as excused.
Porzingis’ refusal to be present at the facility could be deemed a failure to render his services, a possibility that has been raised internally, sources said. That could be used in an attempt to void his entire contract. But that path would bring its own complications, unless Porzingis expressed an intention to retire and willingly returned all the money.
The Warriors are currently $20.4 million over the luxury tax. Removing Porzingis’ salary would erase nearly all of that tax bill and drop them under the first apron, giving them more trade flexibility. It would not, however, free up a major roster-building tool. They could only add a player on a minimum contract through free agency.
The Warriors faced a similar situation two seasons ago. They signed De’Anthony Melton to a one-year, $12.8 million deal in July 2024. He tore an ACL in early November and was ruled out for the season.
Dunleavy responded by lining up a trade with the Brooklyn Nets for Dennis Schroder, to be executed on the first day Schroder was eligible to be traded, Dec. 15. The deal cost the Warriors a net of two second-round picks. Schroder played 24 games for Golden State before he was traded as part of a deadline deal to acquire Butler.
That could be a preferred route again in this Porzingis jam: using a minor asset to acquire a usable rotation player in the interim while keeping the flexibility to repackage that expiring salary for a bigger move at the deadline.
Under the new anti-tanking rules, however, no obvious trade partners are ready to part with a usable player for a minor asset, especially in late October. Dunleavy has already gauged the trade market, league sources said, but this is traditionally a quiet period. Front offices typically gather information about their rosters before making bigger decisions closer to January and February.
For now, the Warriors are showing patience with the Porzingis contract and letting the market develop, league sources said. If Porzingis agrees to give back a large portion of his money in a buyout, his expiring $20 million deal could become even more appealing to a future trade partner looking for financial benefit.
What is the Warriors’ plan in the interim?
Lendeborg’s immediate success has brightened the mood and eased some concern around the Warriors. The rookie wing scored 31 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and handed out six assists in a surprising blowout win in Denver on Monday night.
Lendeborg’s power and size (6-foot-10, 241 pounds) let the Warriors play Green at center while still looking bigger than their previous small-ball lineups. He has 37 rebounds in four games.
Their current starting lineup of Lendeborg, Green, Curry, Brandin Podziemski and Gui Santos is a plus-22 in a small early-season sample. Horford, limited to around 20 minutes per game and unable to play back-to-backs, has looked fresh in brief appearances.
While working through a semi-rebuild, the Warriors have shown a greater willingness to give young players opportunities, hoping to uncover some gems and improve their long-term outlook.
Ike has started two of the first four games, but he can only be used for 50 games total unless the Warriors convert his two-way contract into a full deal. Charles Bassey, a 25-year-old journeyman trying to catch on with Golden State after five previous stops, provides another big body off the bench.
“I love the attitude of this team,” Kerr said. “I love the energy, the spirit. I like our talent. Then I think our two young big guys are good players.”