Kristaps Porzingis was away from Warriors for the past two weeks due to an unexplained health problembut the Latvian big man will be at the Chase Center on Tuesday while the team is in Las Vegas to face the Lakers in another preseason game, writes Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports Bay Area.
“Yes, he will be here tomorrow“, head coach Steve Kerr said after Monday’s practice. “No update other than that. But he will be in the building meeting with Rick (Celebrations) and executive staff.»
Kerr said he wasn’t sure if Porzingis would be available for the regular-season opener against the Lakers on Oct. 21.
“This will all be resolved when we get him back here and discuss it and find out where he is with all of thisKerr said.
While Porzingis has not been around the team the last couple of weeks, he has been in regular communication with the front office and Celebrini, Golden State’s director of sports medicine and performance, on ESPN’s Anthony Slater.
Danny Emmerman of The San Francisco Standard recently wrote that the Warriors said they are not sure where Porzingis has been for the past two weeks, nor do they know the exact nature of his health issue.
Porzingis has been dealing with Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) for the past two seasons, but there has been no confirmation as to whether the diagnosis is related to the health issue that now sidelines him.
Here’s more on the Warriors:
- Kerr initially thought he would start Al Horford at center in Porzingis’ absence. However, the final two preseason games Gui Santos joined Stephen Curry, Brandin underground, Yaksel Landeborg and Draymond Green in the starting five, and Kerr said Monday that he is “leaning toward” using the same starting lineup in the regular season. “Al could be there, but given how many minutes he gets per game… if a guy is going to play 20, which is probably about the limit or what we’d like him to average, it’s a lot easier to get him off the bench” Kerr said, according to Johnson.”I also like the idea of having Draymond or Al on the court as often as possible to anchor our defense. So yes, I’m leaning towards it.”
- How Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area writes, Kerr spoke late last week about some of Golden State’s options at center with Porzingis — at least for now — indefinitely. He also discussed the reasoning behind a front three of Santos, Landeborg and Green, although the team prefers not to use Green at center. “Given that we now have Yaxel, you get a 6-10 guy next door (green)” Kerr said.If we go that route, it will make it a little more enjoyable. And if we combine them with Gui (6-foot-8), all of a sudden you’ve got three guys with good height at their positions, and it doesn’t seem as small as it has the last couple of years. But it’s not perfect.”
- In an interview with NBC Sports Bay Area’s Bonta Hill and Johnson (Link to YouTube), Curry says he and the team “embrace” the fact that people are doubting them this season.
- Governor Joe Lacob recently spoke with Ron Krojczyk of The San Francisco Chronicle on Curry’s new two-year extension, potential cap room next summer, team moves in the offseason, Jimmy ButlerKerr and Landeborg. Regarding the expansion, Curry Lacob had this to say: “We were going to take care of him and make sure he stayed no matter what. Fortunately, we were able to convince him when he wanted to help…he saw the benefit of it. And we are obviously very grateful. If he took even less, we would be happier (smiles). But we appreciate what he did. Most players never take less and he didn’t have to – if he had demanded to take everything we would have paid. He deserves it. … The most important thing is that he remains a Warrior for life because he is so important to this franchise.”
