Should Warriors shut Stephen Curry, Kristaps Porzingis down for rest of season?

It seems like all that could have gone wrong this season for the Golden State Warriors has gone wrong. Then again, the ceiling during the regular season never seemed particularly high for the Warriors entering the 2025-26 season, especially since this older, experienced team, still led by Stephen Curry, was built to contend in the playoffs.

The only problem is that to contend in the playoffs, you have to actually make the playoffs. This franchise hasn’t been more than six games above .500 all season, and time is rapidly running out for them to make anything of this season.

Durability and health have been the biggest challenges Golden State has faced this year, and nothing has been easy for them since time froze on January 19 when Jimmy Butler tore his ACL.

With Butler done for the season, a chain of injuries and unfortunate events has developed for the Warriors.

Draymond Green, Al Horford, and De’Anthony Melton each seem to be on strict rest regimes, especially when it comes to back-to-backs, and six games after Butler went down for the season, Curry found himself on the injury list.

At first, it didn’t seem like Curry’s injury was all that serious, as he appeared to tweak his right knee on Jan. 30 against the Detroit Pistons and limped off the court to the locker room. The good news for the Warriors is that there was nothing structurally wrong with Steph’s knee, and the team considered him day-to-day and likely to rest through the All-Star break to be 100 percent for the stretch run of the season.

Over four weeks have passed now, and Curry has yet to resume full basketball activities. While the team continues to downplay the severity of this lingering knee issue, the fact of the matter is that the team is sinking quickly and appears to be stuck in the Western Conference standings.

Now 31-30 on the season and close to falling below .500 for the first time since mid-December, the Warriors appear destined to be in the play-in tournament for the third consecutive year.

With Steph, it would be a long shot for Golden State to make up its 5.5-game deficit and claim the 6-seed in the West standings with 21 games remaining. Without Steph, it’s hard to imagine the Dubs will fall out of the play-in region altogether, especially considering that the bottom five teams in the West standings are all tanking and have no intention of winning any more games this year.

The Warriors are currently stuck in limbo yet again, leading to major questions about what the rest of this season looks like, including what happens with Curry over the final six weeks of the regular season.

Does Steph Curry returning even matter?

Since Curry’s knee injury, which is being labeled as patella-femoral pain syndrome and right knee bone bruising, the Warriors have lost seven of their last 11 games. Wins over Phoenix and Denver during this span seem like nothing more than blips in the matrix, as blowout losses and fourth-quarter collapses have been the story of Golden State without Steph.

The bottom line is that this organization can’t find success without Curry, especially since Butler isn’t there to lead the team. Any team that loses its two All-Star players is destined to sink, and that is exactly what has happened to the Warriors.

Given their position in the West standings, the Warriors have zero reason to rush Curry back.

Whether they finish seventh or tenth in the standings, Golden State will still need to win in the play-in tournament to secure a playoff spot. And even if they get to the playoffs, a date with either the Oklahoma City Thunder or the San Antonio Spurs would be waiting for them.

A big decision is looming for the Warriors, and it revolves around bringing Steph back at all during the remainder of the regular season.

Obviously, he needs to be healthy and feel 100 percent first and foremost.

While the expectation was that Curry would return to the court after the All-Star break, the reality of his situation is that he was still dealing with right knee discomfort, which led to more rest and the Warriors conducting more imaging on his knee, which came back clean. Although he has been doing little behind the scenes, Steph has yet to go through a full, extensive workout on the court.

Many tend to forget that Steph is turning 38 on March 14, and he has played in 1,065 career games, 1,220 if you include the playoffs, and even more if you include his Olympic and other ventures. All that mileage piles up for a player like him, especially when you consider that Curry runs more actual miles on the court than any other player every season.

Rest is necessary for him when these types of injuries pop up, which is why the Warriors are operating with an abundance of caution. Even so, sources continue to relay to ClutchPoints that if the playoffs started today, Steph would be receiving around-the-clock treatment and wouldn’t want to miss those games for the Dubs.

At this point, the playoffs are all that matter for Curry and the Warriors. If they are healthy come time for postseason play, Steve Kerr, Draymond Green, and this team understand that they can truly defeat any team in a seven-game series. Whether it’s a rising threat like the Spurs or the defending NBA champion Thunder, the Warriors, whether you believe them or not, truly believe they can win.

The main reason for that is because of what No. 30 can do on the court when healthy.

Having Steph available for the play-in tournament will be essential, as will ensuring he is 100 percent healthy for whoever they possibly face in a first-round playoff series.

That is why there is no rush to bring him back, and that is why sources say the earliest he would be back, but unlikely to return until after this date, is at the start of the Warriors’ six-game road trip against the New York Knicks on Sunday, March 15.

To be perfectly honest, it may be in the Warriors’ and Curry’s best interest to shut things down indefinitely until after this road trip, as seven of the Dubs’ final 10 games of the season will be in San Francisco. The Warriors have time since they aren’t moving anywhere in the play-in standings, which is why Steph’s return doesn’t really matter right now.

As of right now, there have been zero conversations about the Warriors ruling Curry out for the rest of the season, and he, sources said, specifically wants to return before the playoffs to try and create some momentum for this team.

Unfortunately for the Warriors, they can’t seem to get any positive momentum due to all the injury problems that exist alongside Curry.

Kristaps Porzingis’ lingering health issues

It was only a matter of time before the Warriors traded Jonathan Kuminga this season, and they finally pulled the trigger on a deal by sending him and Buddy Hield to the Atlanta Hawks for Kristaps Porzingis. About four weeks have passed since this trade, and it has been completely one-sided in favor of the Hawks.

While the idea of having Porzingis on the court next to Curry, Green, and others is exactly what the Warriors have needed at the center position, the reality is that nothing has changed regarding the big man’s health. Porzingis revealed to The Athletic in October that he was diagnosed with POTS, a chronic blood circulation disorder characterized by an abnormal, rapid heart rate increase.

This is something Porzingis has battled constantly over the last year and a half, and it has severely impacted his career. Since the start of the 2024-25 season, the Latvian big man has only played in 60 games as a result.

After playing against the Boston Celtics on Feb. 19 and making his Warriors debut, Porzingis has missed five straight games and may not travel with the team for their upcoming three-game road trip. On Monday, Kerr told reporters that the big man’s illness troubles are “mysterious” and that there is no timeframe on when he could return.

Porzingis has been away from the team and has not practiced since playing close to two weeks ago.

What happens next for Porzingis and the Warriors is a mystery. Rick Celebrini, the team’s VP of Player Health and Performance, and his staff are obviously continuing to work with the former star big man to get his health under control, but there is no clear answer as to when, or even if, Porzingis will return this season.

The only good news for Golden State is that Porzingis is in the final year of his contract and will open up $30.7 million on the team’s books entering the offseason. However, having Porzingis walk in the offseason and seeing few contributions the rest of the season would be a major loss for this organization.

For the Warriors to have any chance of finding postseason success, with or without Curry available, they will need Porzingis on the court. Right now, that doesn’t look like a feasible option.

Warriors’ injuries continue to stack

Curry has not played in over a month, and Porzingis’ status continues to be in question because of his illness. Those aren’t the only two injury situations the Warriors are battling late in the season.

Seth Curry has barely been available for the Dubs due to ongoing sciatica problems, and rookie Will Richard, who has made an impact in multiple ways this season, suffered a mild right ankle sprain during Saturday’s 129-101 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Although Richard was seen in a walking boot recently, the team is labeling him as “day-to-day,” and he could play during their upcoming three-game road trip beginning on Thursday.

Gary Payton II had a left ankle issue flare up before Monday night’s game against the LA Clippers, resulting in him missing the game, and starting wing Moses Moody suffered right wrist and shoulder injuries in the team’s 114-101 collapse against the Clippers. Nothing was said about the severity of these injuries or whether Moody will now be forced to miss time.

The Warriors simply cannot catch a break this season, and half their roster is dealing with some sort of ailment at the moment. With a month left in the regular season and this team trapped in their play-in purgatory, there is really nothing Golden State can do.

This organization is not one to throw in the towel and give up on a season, even though that is likely what their fans would like to see at this point. Kerr is continuing to coach this team as if they were at full strength, and the Warriors are simply dealing with what they have, trying to win each and every night.

While times are tough for Golden State and injury concerns continue to stockpile, this franchise still has hope. And that hope is that Curry, Porzingis, and everyone else will be healthy by the end of the regular season and heading into the play-in tournament to give the Warriors a chance.

After all, nobody in the league will want to face Curry and the Warriors, assuming they are healthy, in the playoffs.

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