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Kristaps Porzingis #8 of the Golden State Warriors
No doubt, the trade that brought Kristaps Porzingis to the Golden State Warriors has gone about as poorly as possible for the team and coach Steve Kerr. Porzingis was brought in from the Hawks in a trade for Jonathan Kuminga, the former No. 7 pick who Kerr had pretty much relegated to the bench as a bad fit for his team and its playing style. Kuminga has thrived in Atlanta while the Warriors have gotten just one appearance, in the first game after the All-Star break, from Porzingis.
The Warriors played their 11th game since trading for Porzingis on Thursday to open a three-game road trip in Houston, Oklahoma City and Utah, and for the 10th time, Porzingis was ruled out on the injury report. He initially had a calf injury, but after playing the first game following the All-Star break, he has since been out with an illness the Warriors aren’t naming.
But coach Steve Kerr did seem to have some news on Porzingis on Thursday–he’s doing basketball things.
Kristaps Porzingis Working Out
Before the game in Houston, Kerr met with Warriors reporters and noted that Porzingis was with the team, noting that he was upright and working out on the court. At least Kerr said he thought that was the case, that Porzingis was working out on Wednesday before the team plane left.
Kerr has been reluctant to talk about Porzingis and his ailment after he got into hot water last weekend for declaring that Porzingis does not have the autonomic nervous system disorder known as POTS, which stands for postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome. That was the diagnosis in Porzingis’ time in Boston last year, but Kerr called it “misinformation” before later apologizing.
On Thursday he said, “No timeline but he is on the trip and he is going to get a workout today and we’ll just take it day by day from there. It’s great that he’s here and great that he’s feeling well enough to be on the trip and hopefully that bodes well for him playing soon.
“He was on the court yesterday morning possibly before the flight. Don’t quote me on that, I know I am going to get myself into more trouble. I think he’s been on the court.”
GettyHead coach Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors
Warriors Knew About the Risks
If there was any doubt, Porzingis erased it on Thursday before the game as he was seen shooting and working out before the game.
Golden State is in the midst of a difficult struggle to get through the next few weeks of the 2025-26 season, with Stephen Curry hobbled by a knee injury and with his return date uncertain, plus Jimmy Butler out after tearing his ACL. The fact that Porzingis has played only one game is some unwanted punctuation on a disastrous Warriors stretch.
As reported in the wake of the initial report on Porzingis’ illness, trading for Porzingis was always going to be a high-risk, high upside gamble, but the Warriors are already afraid they’re going to lose that gamble. One source said the team is, “concerned,” about Porzingis’ health, but added, “it was always buyer beware,” on Porzingis and that team still sees the deal as, “one that could still work out.”
Sean Deveney is a veteran sports reporter covering the NBA, NFL and MLB for Heavy.com. He has written for Heavy since 2019 and has more than two decades of experience covering the NBA, including 17 years as the lead NBA reporter for the Sporting News. Deveney is the author of 7 nonfiction books, including “Fun City,” “Before Wrigley became Wrigley,” and “Facing Michael Jordan.” More about Sean Deveney
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