Confirming that Warriors there is study of the trade market hoping to strike a deal involving Kristaps Porzingis, Sam Amick and Nick Friedel of The Athletic to report that Bucks are among the teams Golden State has contacted.
Let’s assume the Warriors are looking for a center to replace Porzingis, a big man Miles Turner will be the most likely target on Milwaukee’s roster. He has three years and $83.55 million left on his contract, so if the Bucks were interested in shedding that long-term money, the idea of taking on Porzingis’ pseudo-expiring contract could have some appeal, even if the Latvian’s health remains in question.
Turner’s salary in 2026/27 is approximately $26.58 million, while Porzingis earns $20 million. The Warriors, operating during the first tax apron, can’t take in more salary than they send in a trade, so they would need to add at least one more player to Porzingis to make a deal for Turner.
That could complicate matters, especially since several Warriors players are ineligible to be traded until at least December 15. That could be a moot point, though, as Amick and Friedel say the Bucks aren’t interested in Porzingis.
How ESPN’s Anthony Slater writes, given Porzingis’ uncertain health situation, the Warriors will likely have to include draft assets in a trade to get real value for him. They do have some available first-round picks to trade — the team’s 2030 first-rounder will be sent to Memphis if it moves outside the top 20, and is the only one the team doesn’t fully control.
If the Warriors are willing to commit to long-term money, that could help grease the wheels for a potential deal, but even so, most teams are still in evaluation mode and aren’t going to change their rosters at the start of the season, Slater notes.
For example, for now Jacob PoeltlWith a four-year, $103.6 million deal seen as a negative asset, the Raptors may still be reluctant to trade Poeltl for Porzingis given that they hope to contend in the short term and the veteran center is a vital part of their frontcourt rotation. A team without championship aspirations this season, like Milwaukee, would be better equipped to take a flier on Porzingis.
According to Slater, Porzingis has been at the Warriors’ practice facility and has been on the court in the weeks leading up to training camp, as well as attending a September minicamp hosted by Jimmy Butler in San Diego. However, team sources who spoke to ESPN described Porzingis as “indifferent and uninterested in participating in the scrimmages and intense on-court preparation” during that meeting.
Porzingis, who said a year ago that he is dealing with Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), says the CEO Mike Dunleavy Jr on Sunday before training camp to tell the team he was still struggling with his health and would take an indefinite leave of absence, according to Slater.