The Warriors began to study the possibility of trade on the side of the center Kristaps Porzingiswho is now seriously considering his basketball future as he deals with recurring symptoms of an autoimmune disease called POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome), according to ESPN’s Shams Charania (Link to Twitter).
ESPN’s Bobby Marks: Porzingis is deal-eligible despite signing two-year, 40mm extension this summer tweets. His salary next season is only partially guaranteed at $3 million. Struggling on the second floor, Golden State can’t return more salary in any area.
A week ago, the team announced that Porzingis will be sidelined indefinitely due to health issues. Golden State signed him as the starting center.
Instead, Porzingis missed all of the team’s training camp and preseason games. He met with the Warriors GM Mike Dunleavy Jr and Vice President of Player Health and Performance, Dr. Rick Celebrini last week before the organization released its statement.
Porzingis issued a separate statement on social media right after the Warriors release, stating “Hello, people! I am working with doctors and experts to figure out how to get back to full health as quickly as possible. To be honest, I’m getting better and better. I just need to be patient and I believe I will feel great again soon. It’s definitely been frustrating throughout my career to deal with some health issues that you can’t really pinpoint, on top of injuries, so that’s definitely added up, but we’ll get through it. Health is wealth. Thanks for all the support.”
Porzingis has yet again walked away from the team, according to ESPN’s Anthony Slater tweets. According to Charania, if there is no breakthrough in his recovery, Porzingis may choose to retire.
Porzingis has battled a series of injuries and ailments throughout his career, including POTS, a condition he has revealed last October. He was still very effective last season when he played — the Warriors were 6.4 points per 100 possessions better when he was on the court, and that number was even higher (7.8 points per 100 possessions) during his time in Atlanta.
In 32 games with Golden State and Atlanta last season, Porzingis averaged 16.7 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.2 blocks on .446/.338/.842 shooting in just 24 minutes per contest. The Warriors acquired the veteran forward/center in February in a trade that sent Jonathan Cuminga and Buddy Hield this is atlanta.
Any team looking to acquire Porzingis would be primarily interested in shedding long-term salary, given that Porzingis can be waived next summer for just $3 million.