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Kristaps Porzingis #8 of the Atlanta Hawks reacts against the Washington Wizards during an Emirates NBA Cup game at Capital One Arena on November 25, 2025 in Washington, DC.
The Golden State Warriors announced on Tuesday that they are changing their offense to run specific plays for trade deadline acquisition Kristaps Porzingis.
While addressing reporters, head coach Steve Kerr revealed that his team ran post-up plays for Porzingis in Tuesday’s practice session.
“He’s an easy fit,” Kerr said of Porzingis, via ESPN’s Anthony Slater.
“You don’t have to change a whole lot. The biggest difference is that he provides his post-ups. He’s a pretty good post-up player, especially against switches. You throw him the ball at the foul line, the elbows, even the low block, he can score in those spots.”
Replicating Celtics Formula?
The Warriors rank 16th in post-ups and 24th in post-up field goal attempts, but lead the league in post touches with 463.5 per game. That number is largely skewed because the Warriors ran many actions for Jimmy Butler III as a playmaker from the post area.
It appears they are willing to similarly tweak the system for Porzingis, who, unlike Butler, is more of a scorer out of the post than a playmaker.
“It’s one of the things we did today — we worked on our spacing around [Porzingis],” Kerr revealed. “It’s a little different than the spacing around Jimmy, who attacked the paint and kicked out from that area, whereas Kristaps is more of a scorer/shooter from ISO spots. But similar concepts for everybody else.
“We have to recognize when there’s a mismatch with Porzingis, and everybody has to understand the spacing,” added the longtime Warriors head coach.
It’s worth noting that the Boston Celtics ran 3.5 post-ups a game for Porzingis en route to their 2024 NBA championship — a formula that paid off in a big way. Perhaps the Warriors are keen on replicating the same strategy with the sharpshooting 7-footer. As widely documented, the Warriors have run the fewest pick-and-roll and ISO plays since Kerr became head coach in 2014. Unlike most other teams, the Warriors prefer to generate offense through pindowns and misdirections, while capitalizing on Stephen Curry’s gravity. However, they altered their offense to generate good looks for Butler, and appear to once again make tweaks to get the best out of Porzingis.
Kristaps Porzingis Injury Update
Kerr also provided an injury update on Porzingis, who has played only three games since the start of 2026 due to an injury/illness. First, he missed 13 straight games between Jan. 9 and Jan. 31 with Achilles tendinitis. Then, the Latvian big man sat out his final game as a member of the Atlanta Hawks with an undisclosed illness. Since landing in Golden State, he has been listed out with Achilles tendinitis.
“Kristaps has been here the last handful of days and practiced today with the team. He looked good. He’s feeling good,” Kerr said of his new starting center.
“We won’t make a determination [on his availability] until after tomorrow. When we practice tomorrow afternoon, we’ll get up and down the floor and scrimmage.”
Kerr confirmed that both Porzingis and Stephen Curry (knee) are game-time decisions for Thursday’s blockbuster clash against the Boston Celtics, the first game after the All-Star Break. The Warriors (29-26), who lost four of their last six games before the midseason break, are hoping to regain momentum in the second half of the season.
Sai Mohan covers the NBA for Heavy.com. Based in Portugal, Sai is a seasoned sports writer with nearly two decades of publishing experience, including bylines at Yardbarker, FanSided’s Hoops Habit, International Business Times, Hindustan Times and more. More about Sai Mohan
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