Warriors explore Kristaps Porzingis trade amid POTS battle

Shams dropped this one hours before the Warriors open their season, and it's grim news about a guy who hasn't practiced since media day.

Shams Charania

@ShamsCharania

Golden State has started exploring trade routes for Kristaps Porzingis, who is now seriously contemplating his future in basketball as he deals with recurring symptoms from the autoimmune condition termed as POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome), sources tell ESPN.

Porzingis has been away from the team all fall. He missed the start of training camp after the September 28 media day and never played a preseason minute. Golden State opens Wednesday against the Lakers at Crypto.com Arena, and nobody expects to see him there. Shams says he first went public with the POTS diagnosis last year and it has come and gone since then. His line is that if recovery doesn't break through, stepping away for good is possible. That isn't a guy sitting out a few weeks with a sore hamstring. He could be done.

Anthony Slater, who wrote the ESPN story with Shams, put the basketball side of it bluntly. Nothing is imminent, but the Warriors are coming around to the idea that KP is worth more to them as salary than as the starting center.

This was supposed to go differently. Golden State got Porzingis from Atlanta at last February's deadline, and he played just 15 games for them, averaging 16.1 points and 5.3 rebounds. The front office liked that enough to bring him back this summer on a 2-year, $40 million deal. It looks a lot worse now. Omari Sankofa asked what everybody was thinking: how do you trade a guy who's contemplating his future in basketball? He answered it himself a couple minutes later. It's an expiring deal, so it makes more sense than it sounds.

That's exactly the angle Bobby Marks covered. The contract was built to be movable. His typo-free second try at the cap breakdown says it all.

Bobby Marks

@BobbyMarks42

Porzingis is eligible to be traded, despite signing a 2 year/$40M extension on June 30. His salary for next season is guaranteed for only $3M. Golden State is a second apron team and are not allowed to take back more salary in any trade.

Shams Charania

@ShamsCharania

Golden State has started exploring trade routes for Kristaps Porzingis, who is now seriously contemplating his future in basketball as he deals with recurring symptoms from the autoimmune condition termed as POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome), sources tell ESPN. t.co/w9fb2Tk4kb

Marks also clarified that the Warriors are hard capped at the second apron. So the $20 million this season mostly works as matching salary, and the only $3 million guaranteed next year means a partner isn't stuck with real money in 2027-28. The catch is that Golden State can't take back more than it sends out. Any deal has to fit inside a tight box, and Shams says the Warriors could add from their pool of assets to make it work.

Shams went further on The Pat McAfee Show, walking through why the Warriors are shopping KP and what his health means for any deal.

NBA on ESPN

@ESPNNBA

@ShamsCharania shares insight on the Warriors’ potential trade for Kristaps Porziņģis amid lingering health concerns on the @PatMcAfeeShow.

What to watch from here: whether Golden State packages that $20 million with assets for a real frontcourt piece before the season gets away from them, and, more importantly, how Porzingis is doing. Strip out the cap stuff and this is a 7-footer who has given the league a decade of highlights, now wondering if his body will let him keep going. Tomer Azarly said what most people felt: really unfortunate, and you hope he finds a way past it.