LOS ANGELES - Talent, or availability? This was always the question this summer for general manager Mike Dunleavy. On paper, there was no better open-market option at the center position in free agency than Kristaps Porzingis. Provided, of course, that he would actually be on the court.
"In constructing (the roster), we had to make a decision between talent and availability," Dunleavy said. "And there was no perfect solution, in terms of a combination of the two. And I think we leaned a little bit more towards talent, knowing the team that we have, what we need, and hope that we can get some good luck but also improving some areas medically.
"We are taking on some risks there," Dunleavy acknowledged later. "But I think we value the talent over, maybe, finding guys that were perfectly healthy."
Risk, two months later, has drastically outweighed any reward for Golden State in re-upping with Porzingis, who is being paid a guaranteed $20 million this season. A week ago, the Warriors released a statement saying Porzingis would remain out indefinitely for health reasons but would "be around the team." On the afternoon of Wednesday's season opener, though - following an ESPN report that the Warriors were exploring trade options for Porzingis - the club released another statement saying they're now "not expecting Kristaps (to be) around the team in the immediate future."
Porzingis wrote in a tweet, timed with the Warriors' previous statement Oct. 14, that he was dealing with health issues he "can't exactly pinpoint." Golden State was expecting him back in the building more last week. He wasn't. Porzingis' future at large with the Warriors, now, looks murky at best.
"Other than my concern for him and his own well-being, I don't think of it," head coach Steve Kerr said Monday. "When we come to practice, I don't think of it. Because I have to focus on the guys who are here, and that's my concern when we come into the building."
The Warriors said in Wednesday's statement, too, that they "are not going to comment on trade speculation or reports regarding his health-related matter or future." A key element of such statement: The club, clearly, didn't actively deny such trade speculation. And Golden State may be forced to pivot and look for center help, with Porzingis out indefinitely and reserve big Charles Bassey out for Wednesday's opener with knee tendinitis.
The question, though: What could the Warriors actually make happen to move off Porzingis? And what franchise, if any, would see value in a 31-year-old big whose health issues have largely confounded in the NBA?
"I just think the injury concerns, and how bizarre this situation was - I mean, they just signed him," one NBA front-office source told the Chronicle, speaking on condition of anonymity. "They just re-signed him. And now you're trying to trade him? Like, what happened these last couple months? I think there would be too many question marks to justify."
The external value in a Porzingis deal would come from his contract, which the Warriors essentially structured as a one-year flier. Porzingis is only guaranteed $3 million of his $20 million salary for 2027-28, and could be cut before the full guarantees kick in July 7, according to Spotrac. Organizations looking to move off a player on a longer-term deal could be interested in Porzingis in a one-and-done, salary-match trade. Such is the value of expiring deals in the NBA, for teams that want to create cap room in the future.
Moving Porzingis, though, would be complicated for the Warriors. Golden State is over the first apron, meaning - under the collective bargaining agreement - they couldn't input more salary on a trade than they'd give up. Therefore, they could only take on deals worth $20 million or less this season in shipping out Porzingis.
"That's a little bit of a challenge, right now," as ESPN front-office expert and former NBA assistant GM Bobby Marks told the Chronicle.
There are few obvious targets floating on the market at that number, for teams who'd be actively looking to shed future salary. Orlando's Wendell Carter Jr. might fit the bill - on a three-year deal worth $58 million - but he's currently a starter for a team with playoff expectations in the Eastern Conference.
The silver lining for Golden State: It's sitting just under the second apron, meaning it can aggregate salaries to match incoming value. The most obvious target, then? Milwaukee's Myles Turner, a floor-spacing big who long has been linked with the Warriors and has three years remaining (the final a player option) on a four-year, $108.9 million deal that the Bucks would no doubt desperately love to shed.
To make that work, though, Golden State would have to attach Moses Moody, who's rehabbing a ruptured patellar tendon but a young player the organization loves. And taking on Turner's deal would significantly shrink the Warriors' financial flexibility for the future, solely to input a 30-year-old center with 11 years of NBA mileage on his tires.
There isn't much of an option to simply dump Porzingis and start over. If they cut Porzingis, they wouldn't even have the necessary cap space to sign a free agent to a veteran-minimum deal.
The best - and perhaps only - course of action for Golden State, then? Wait, see if Porzingis suddenly improves, and see how the early season market develops.
"You're going to play this out for a little bit here," Marks said. "I just think that's kinda where - there's no deadline looming, right? So, there's not a sense of urgency."
The Warriors put themselves, in many ways, in this situation. And there are no quick fixes to wriggle out of it.
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There’s more to San Francisco with the Chronicle. Subscribe today for just 25¢.This article originally published at With Kristaps Porzingis' Warriors future in doubt, what could a trade look like?.