The biggest problem that the Golden State Warriors have faced through the years has been availability. On paper, this team looks like one that can compete in the Western Conference near the end of Stephen Curry's career. In reality, it's been a flawed roster because of injuries and prolonged absences, with none standing out more than Kristaps Porzingis.
When the Warriors pulled the trigger to deal Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield for Porzingis, it was viewed as a low-risk, high-potential trade that could supply this franchise with exactly what it needed — a stretch big man who could space the floor and provide immediate production on both sides of the court.
Although Porzingis' injury troubles and his battle with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) were well known throughout the organization, the Warriors believed they could find a way to get the Latvian big man on the floor. For a period of time, this was true, and Porzingis looked like a significant contributor at the end of the 2025-26 season.
That was one of the main reasons why GM Mike Dunleavy Jr. and the Warriors' front office signed Porzingis to a two-year, $40 million extension in the offseason. Even so, this deal was made to also protect the organization, as only $23 million in total is guaranteed, and it left the door open for Golden State to potentially move his contract as a $20 million salary slot during the 2026-27 season should things go south.
Well, to say things have gone south in the four months since Porzingis signed this new contract would be an understatement.
Once again, his health issues loom large, leading to the 31-year-old's absence from training camp, the entire preseason, and now the start of the 2026-27 regular season.
Already without Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody, who are recovering from significant knee injuries and not expected to return before the calendar flips to 2027, having Porzingis sidelined means that the Warriors have roughly $90 million out right now, or for those who like percentages, about 40% of their total team payroll.
And to make matters worse, it truly seems like Porzingis will never play another game with the Warriors after signing this $40 million extension in the offseason, and that his time with the team is over.
Warriors facing major Kristaps Porzingis decision
All that could've gone wrong with trading for Porzingis has gone wrong for the Warriors, but the writing was on the wall for what has transpired. There was a risk factor with targeting Porzingis, and that was a risk that management was willing to take because of the upside he possessed.
For years, the Warriors' biggest flaw had been finding a 7-footer like Porzingis who could stretch the court offensively, be a rim protector on defense, and help alleviate all the pressure off Draymond Green to do everything in the frontcourt. Not even factoring in his health concerns, Porzingis was the perfect fit for what the Warriors needed.
That is why this franchise took a chance on him, especially since it cost them nothing of value. Kuminga was going to be traded one way or another during the 2025-26 season and was no longer a player in the eyes of the Warriors' front office. Instead, he was a $22.5 million trade exception that the team could utilize before the deadline.
Landing Porzingis seemed like a steal for the Warriors since they didn't have to sacrifice any draft picks in the process. There was almost a sense of rejuvenation within the organization after trading Kuminga and Hield for Porzingis.
This offseason, after losing in the play-in tournament and failing to make the playoffs for the second time in the last three seasons, re-signing Porzingis was never a question for the Warriors, sources told ClutchPoints. Dunleavy and the front office truly believe Porzingis could be an X-factor for the team over the course of a full season, and both he and the team's medical staff believed they had solved his mysterious health problems.
Even Porzingis himself made it clear in the offseason that he was feeling great and looking forward to the 2026-27 season with the Warriors.
The unfortunate part of everything is that Porzingis' health since the start of the 2023-24 season has been a major red flag, and now his career may be in jeopardy.
After missing training camp, all of the preseason, and the start of the new year due to unspecified health concerns being kept in-house by the Warriors' leadership, Porzingis is no longer a beacon of hope for this team but rather a distraction and red flag that has created major uncertainty.
ESPN was the first to report on Wednesday that the Warriors have begun exploring the possibility of trading Porzingis as a result of his absence from the team due to his ongoing health concerns. Porzingis himself is even contemplating his future in basketball because of everything he's dealt with.
The Warriors' big man met with Dunleavy and Rick Celebrini, the team's director of sports medicine and performance, in San Francisco last week for the first time since taking a leave of absence for his health issues. Although the Warriors did not reveal the details of said meeting and kept all information on Porzingis private, they did say that while he would remain out indefinitely, he would be around the team.
Exactly one week later, shortly after ESPN's report surfaced, the team released a new statement. The Warriors said that while they would not comment on any trade speculation or reports regarding Porzingis' health, he is not expected to be around the team in the immediate future and remains out indefinitely.
Four months ago, when the Warriors signed Porzingis to his $40 million contract extension, this wasn't the scenario that was supposed to play out. Despite the Warriors protecting themselves by only guaranteeing Year 2 of this contract for $3 million, sources told ClutchPoints that the team felt extremely optimistic about Porzingis being ready to start the 2026-27 season.
Contrary to popular belief, this was a deal the Warriors had to give to Porzingis not just because of the potential he brought on the court, but because they needed to keep his salary slot. In a limited free agency pool, it is easier said than done, looking back on the matter, to potentially replace Porzingis with someone else, and Golden State really believed he was their best option.
There were never any indications this offseason that Porzingis was thinking about stepping away from the game due to health matters, and he mentioned multiple times how he was looking forward to a full year with Golden State.
That is no longer the case, leaving the team without answers and a major hole to fill at the center position to begin the year.
“I don’t know,” Kerr said on Wednesday before the Warriors' season opener against the Los Angeles Lakers. “I don’t really have anything to add on this. I haven’t seen him. We’ve stayed in touch via text and a phone call, but we put out the statement today, and there’s not much more to it. We don’t really know.”
Curry also acknowledged Porzingis' absence after the team's 127-105 loss to the Lakers, stating that it's unfortunate for the big man personally before anything else, but this situation puts the Warriors in a tough spot.
“We always said availability was a big factor for our team with the guys we already had out. So it’s no secret that (center) spot was an important one for us, especially with his skill set,” Curry said. “It’s hard to talk about it without keeping the humanity in mind, but it is a tough one to figure out for the now, for the future.
“We have to overcome that obviously, but we would love to have him here.”
As much as Steph and the entire organization would like to see Porzingis on the floor and contributing at the high level they have seen from him in the past, this seems like nothing more than fantasy at this point.
Not even a week into the 2026-27 season, does this mean the Warriors will trade Porzingis sooner rather than later?
Possibility of an immediate Kristaps Porzingis trade
Just because Porzingis is eligible to be traded right now and the Warriors are exploring avenues to potentially do so doesn't mean a deal is imminent. It takes two to tango, and when it comes to trades in the NBA… well, Dunleavy will be the first to tell you that making deals is difficult.
Then again, the Warriors have been involved in 12 different trades since Dunleavy took over as the general manager of the Warriors in June 2023, and this front office has always been opportunistic when it comes to not jumping the gun on trades.
After all, the Warriors have held onto all of their draft capital through the years, trading only a protected 2030 first-round pick to Washington for Chris Paul in 2023 and sending a protected 2025 first-round pick to Miami for Jimmy Butler in 2025.
Golden State still owns all of its first-round assets through 2033, including their 2030 pick, which will be retained by the Dubs if it's in the top 20 of the draft. That half of the pick can still be traded, opening up endless possibilities for the Warriors to make any trade they want to.
But as it relates to Porzingis, would the Warriors be willing to trade first-round assets to move his $20 million contract?
Based on how this front office has operated recently, it's safe to assume that the only way this front office would move at least one first-round pick is if they were to get a player of great value who can help the team now and in the long term.
The Warriors have been pretty adamant that they won't move valuable draft picks, especially those that could be in the post-Curry era, for a rental.
However, because teams know about the situation that this franchise faces and the fact that Porzingis is contemplating his future, they would need incentive to trade with the Warriors. This is especially true since Porzingis essentially has dead value.
“That is a dead cap hit, no matter how you look at it,” one NBA front-office source told ClutchPoints regarding how Porzingis is viewed around the NBA. “Golden State is essentially trading $20 million in cash for next summer to someone if they deal Porzingis. This is Porzingis the contract, not Porzingis the player, that could be dealt. The player aspect of it all is probably done.”
Too many questions surround Porzingis for any team to view him as anything more than cap relief for the 2027-28 season, which could play a little bit into the Warriors' favor. Teams are always looking for ways to get out of big contracts and free up immediate cap space, which is why closer to the trade deadline in February, an “expiring” deal like Porzingis' would be of value to some organizations.
But that is more than three months from now, and the Warriors are in trouble right this second. And here lies the big issue with a potential Porzingis trade — the fact that virtually no team in the league is looking to make a substantial trade at the start of the season.
Not to mention, so many players who signed contracts over the summer are not able to be traded until mid-December, creating more roadblocks for the Warriors if they were to fully engage in trade talks for Porzingis now.
It is really hard to envision a trade materializing before December for these two reasons unless the Warriors were willing to attach valuable incentives in the form of draft picks since there are no young assets to deal. Brandin Podziemski isn't going anywhere, Yaxel Lendeborg is completely off limits when it comes to the idea of a trade, and Moses Moody won't be back until sometime during the second half of the season.
Moody is another interesting side topic to discuss in regard to Porzingis because in any trade the Warriors make, they need to match their outgoing salaries 100%. That means if there was a trade for Porzingis by himself, the Warriors would only be able to take back $20 million in total salaries, the same as the big man's cap hit for the 2026-27 season.
To acquire a player making more than Porzingis' $20 million, Golden State would need to trade additional salary. One scenario that has been floated by fans and NBA personnel around the league alike is the idea of packaging Porzingis with someone else to try and add veteran center Myles Turner from the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Warriors did recently contact the Bucks about a potential Porzingis trade, according to Sam Amick of The Athletic, yet it's unknown at this time whether Golden State was interested in Turner or a different player. Since Turner makes $26.5 million this season, the Warriors would need to send out an additional $6.6 million to match salaries in this hypothetical scenario.
As a result, Moody seems like the obvious contract to include here with his $12.5 million salary this season, giving the Warriors $32.5 million between him and Porzingis to play around with in prospective trades. The catch here is that the Warriors really want to keep Moody.
League sources told ClutchPoints that the Warriors were only willing to move Moody this offseason if it led them to landing superstar talents. Aside from pursuing LeBron James in free agency, Golden State explored the possibility of trading for Anthony Davis, Kawhi Leonard, and others.
Trading Moody was not in the cards for this front office unless it landed them a significant upgrade. The same can be said with Jimmy Butler, who the Warriors continuously assured alongside Moody that they would be on the roster to begin the 2026-27 season.
Much like their draft picks, the Warriors would only trade Moody in some sort of package with Porzingis if they were to get a key piece who could be a long-term option on their roster. As far as Butler goes, multiple sources have downplayed the Warriors looking to include him in a deal this season.
That isn't to say things couldn't change before the trade deadline if Golden State struggles and finds itself near the bottom of the West standings.
The other player worth mentioning is Draymond Green, who is on an expiring $27.7 million contract. Green was included in different trade dialogues the Warriors held last season, notably in their proposal to the Bucks for Giannis Antetokounmpo in February.
When he re-signed with the Dubs this summer, Green waived his implicit no-trade clause, citing at the time on his show that if the team wants to trade him during the 2026-27 season, they should trade him.
“I've never been a guy who wants to stay somewhere where I'm not wanted,” he said in August on The Draymond Green Show.
More recently, Green hinted at his future with the Warriors being uncertain when speaking with CNBC Sports. The 36-year-old said that his goal is to retire with Golden State, but he understands that he's not Steph Curry and doesn't have the same “luxuries” as the face of the franchise. He made it clear there would be no “ill-feelings” if this was to be his final year with the Warriors.
Now, this is not to say that the Warriors will look to trade Draymond, but combining his salary with that of Porzingis gives Golden State a $47.7 million buffer of expiring salaries to entice teams on the trade market. While this may not be at the top of the list in terms of what the Warriors are looking at right now regarding potential moves for Porzingis, it's something to keep in the back of your mind if time goes on and the team still hasn't made a move.
As far as potential teams to be in the mix for a Porzingis trade, keep a close eye on the Memphis Grizzlies. This is a rebuilding team in the Western Conference with a lead executive in Zach Kleiman, who has already proven he's always willing to take on contracts for future first-round picks.
Memphis owns a $28.8 million TPE from sending Jaren Jackson Jr. to the Utah Jazz last season, and sources told ClutchPoints that the Grizzlies plan to utilize this exception sometime during the 2026-27 season to try and expand their draft pick stash by absorbing an unwanted contract.
This offseason, the Grizzlies did sign Quinten Post to a three-year, $30 million offer sheet that the Warriors didn't match, and the final two years of his deal are non-guaranteed. Perhaps there is some type of deal the Warriors could make to bring Post back in favor of Porzingis once he becomes trade eligible in December.
Overall, trading Porzingis will be difficult for the Warriors, and it's hard to envision a deal coming together within the next few weeks. I would anticipate this situation looming large over Golden State for at least the next month.
Extensions, waiver wire, other NBA intel
Other than the Warriors and their Porzingis situation, several other notable headlines have captivated the opening week of the NBA.
Let's start this final section of today's intel piece by talking about Karl-Anthony Towns, who did not sign a new extension with the New York Knicks entering the 2026-27 season. Coming off their championship run, Towns has been eligible to sign a four-year, $276 million contract extension.
He can still sign an extension at some point over the course of the regular season, but there is a wide gap between the sides. While Towns has made it known he is willing to take a discount, much like we've seen other stars do in recent years, including his teammate Jalen Brunson, the four-year, $200 million extension proposed by New York is well below what the Knicks' center is willing to take.
The word on the street over the last few weeks is that Towns wants something in the $225 million to $240 million range on a four-year extension. Evan Mobley recently signed a five-year, $269 million extension in 2024 with an AAV of roughly $54 million, and it wouldn't come as a surprise if that $54 million AAV value is a target for Towns.
To this point, there has been no word regarding whether Towns' representation will continue to talk with the Knicks' front office behind the scenes or wait for the organization to approach them again about a deal. When asked about not receiving an extension, Towns was upset, but he made it clear that it is just business, and he was only focused on the start of the 2026-27 season.
“Very disappointed to say the least,” Towns said. “Let's state the obvious: It's business, but there is business on the court for us to handle.”
More recently, in a sit-down interview with ESPN's Malika Andrews, Towns confirmed that he is willing to take a discount from the max contract that can be offered to him, and he wants to keep the core of the Knicks together.
“I want this team to stay together,” Towns told Andrews. “That's always been my main priority was to keep everyone here, to keep this core, this special team that we have. So it was the first thing on my mind as soon as it was. And there was nowhere in my mind a max was even thought of.”
Brunson, who was sitting next to Towns for this answer, was asked immediately after what he hopes to see happen from his teammate, and his answer was three words: “Sign the contract.”
Article Continues BelowMany around the NBA anticipate the Knicks and Towns agreeing to a new extension sometime in the middle of the 2026-27 season, but if that does not happen and he enters next offseason without a new deal, there is a belief that he would opt out of his $61 million player option to become an unrestricted free agent.
Towns wants to still be paid as one of the top centers in the NBA even though he's willing to take a discount, and he wants long-term security since this could be his last major contract, especially since he is turning 31 years old in November. If I had to give a prediction right now, Towns and the Knicks will find common ground on a new deal at some point this season.
Speaking of the Knicks, they agreed to terms on a two-way contract with former Los Angeles Lakers first-round pick Dalton Knecht on Friday morning. League sources confirmed that the Knicks will be waiving 2024 second-round pick Kevin McCullar Jr. to make room for Knecht's new two-way deal.
Knecht joins Jaden Akins and Tyler Nickel as the three players on two-way contracts with New York this season.
Before the 2026-27 season, Knecht was the most notable player waived before the Oct. 19 roster deadline, yet this move didn't come as a surprise to anyone.
It always seemed like Knecht's time in Los Angeles was over following their failed trade with the Charlotte Hornets for Mark Williams in 2025, especially since the Lakers had been trying to trade the former 17th pick for over a year.
The Lakers had reached out to several teams to try and trade Knecht for some sort of value before waiving him on Monday. Sources said the Lakers contacted the Utah Jazz, Chicago Bulls, Milwaukee Bucks, and others to try and strike a deal.
The Bucks had briefly talked through what Los Angeles would want but were unwilling to trade center Jericho Sims straight up for Knecht and wanted multiple second-round picks or a pick swap. This was a price the Lakers were unwilling to meet.
Maybe going across the country and being back on the East Coast will be beneficial for Knecht to reinvent himself. The Knicks have had a lot of success reinventing shooters on two-way deals or minimum contracts through the years, most recently doing so with Landry Shamet.
Switching back to the topic of extensions around the league, several first-round picks from the 2023 NBA Draft did not receive a rookie-scale contract extension before the start of the regular season.
Scoot Henderson was the highest pick to not earn a new deal, as the former third-overall pick from 2023 will play out the final year of his rookie deal before becoming a restricted free agent. He will be joined by Anthony Black (No. 6 pick), Bilal Coulibaly (No. 7 pick), Dereck Lively II (No. 12 pick), and Jaime Jaquez Jr. (No. 18 pick) as the most notable players from this draft class set to become restricted free agents next summer.
Coulibaly will see an elevated role during the 2026-27 season on a Washington Wizards team that expects to take a sizeable leap forward. It isn't all that surprising that there was no extension for Coulibaly since the Wizards need to first figure out Anthony Davis' contract situation, but unless a team is willing to relinquish a ton of assets for him, it still appears as if Coulibaly's long-term future is with Washington.
The same cannot necessarily be said for Black and the Orlando Magic.
Last season, Black put together a breakout campaign, averaging career highs in points (15.0), rebounds (3.8), assists (3.7), steals (1.4), field goals made (345), 3-pointers made (100), and starts (40). The Magic will again expect big things from the fourth-year guard once he makes his debut this year, as Black has been nursing a right ankle sprain.
When looking at the Magic's immediate and long-term future, Black is a massive question mark because of this team's salary structure. Paolo Banchero, Franz Wagner, Desmond Bane, Jalen Suggs, and Wendell Carter Jr. combine to make about $173 million this season, and these five are on the books for over $180 million combined next season.
That is why the Magic couldn't afford to extend Black right now, and it's why if they are to keep him long-term, someone will need to be on the move.
In asking front-office personnel around the league about Black's situation and his value, the majority believe that the 22-year-old guard will get more than $20 million in AAV upon becoming a restricted free agent.
Black shares the same representation as Brandin Podziemski, who earned himself a five-year, $110 million extension from the Warriors. The assumption is that the young Magic guard wanted a comparable deal somewhere around $20 million annually, which is a mark Orlando didn't come close to in their offer before the new season.
While many young players would be disappointed that they did not get a long-term commitment from their team, that was not the case with Black before the start of the regular season.
“I've still got to do what I need to do. Still trying to help the team win. It's more important than just me,” Black said, via Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel. “I'm looking forward to having a good season and making the most out of this year with my team.”
The Magic are optimistic that they can be a top team in the Eastern Conference this year, despite losing 132-125 in their season opener against the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday. Once he is healthy again, Black figures to be a big part of Orlando's rotation coming off the bench behind Suggs and Bane.
Around the league, the Magic are a team that has a lot of eyes on them. Rival personnel know changes are on the horizon for Orlando due to the salary restraints that the organization faces looking ahead to next offseason.
That starts at the very top, with teams waiting to see what happens with Banchero and Wagner in terms of their long-term futures with the Magic.