Kristaps Porzingis is exactly the type of player the Warriors have wanted to add to their frontcourt for years, according to Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints, who says Golden State views the big man as a no-risk, potentially high-reward addition. Still, sending Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield to Atlanta for Porzingis was something of a fall-back option for the Warriors, who pursued Giannis Antetokounmpo and several other impact players leading up to Thursday’s trade deadline.
The Warriors’ interest in Trey Murphy III has been well chronicled, and Siegel suggests Golden State was prepared to offer Kuminga, an unprotected 2026 first-round pick, and a lightly protected 2028 first-rounder for the Pelicans wing. However, sources tell ClutchPoints that New Orleans had set an asking price of at least three first-round picks for Murphy and wasn’t enthusiastic about Kuminga as a long-term building block.
The Warriors also spoke to the Grizzlies about Jaren Jackson Jr., Siegel confirms, and would’ve done a package that included Kuminga, Hield, two first-round picks, and “some sort of swap.” But Siegel hears that Golden State was reluctant to include Moses Moody or far-off draft picks which Memphis would’ve valued more highly (since they’d likely land after Stephen Curry‘s retirement), so Utah was able to beat Golden State’s package for Jackson.
While Porzingis may not have been atop the Warriors’ wish list, the team is looking forward to seeing what he’ll bring to the table and there’s optimism that he’ll be ready to play in the first game after the All-Star break, head coach Steve Kerr confirmed today (Twitter link via Nick Friedell of The Athletic). Kerr told reporters that Porzingis did some three-on-three work on Tuesday and will play in short bursts once he’s activated.
For his part, Porzingis – who has been limited to 17 outings this season for injury/illness reasons – is optimistic about what the rest of the season holds for him and the Warriors.
“I think it’s a great, great opportunity to turn a new page,” Porziņgis said over the weekend, per Friedell. “From what I’ve seen, and the conversations I’ve had so far with the medical staff here, and the people that work here, I have to say I’m very surprised and very optimistic. I’m in really, really good hands, if not some of the best hands, and I think that will also add to what I already have in my mind. So, I look forward to really having a surprisingly good post All-Star break.”
We have more on the Warriors:
- Interestingly, during his post-deadline media session, Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. strongly pushed back against the idea that the team discussed Draymond Green in trade talks. “His name was not in conversations other than the ones where teams called me to ask about him,” Dunleavy said, according to ESPN’s Anthony Slater. “The idea that he ‘stayed with the Warriors past the deadline’ was greatly exaggerated. It was never a possibility of him not being here or remotely close.” Multiple reporters – and Green himself – have suggested that the longtime Warrior would’ve almost certainly been included in a package for Antetokounmpo, so perhaps Dunleavy’s comments reflect a belief that the Giannis scenario never gained any traction.
- Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports Bay Area passes along several more of Dunleavy’s remarks from Saturday’s media session, including the GM’s assertion that the Warriors remain well positioned to trade for an impact player going forward. “We’ve got the goods to make deals,” Dunleavy said. “I think the only way we wouldn’t be in the mix is if we gave out assets, young players, all the things you need to get a great player. We still have all that. I think that’s one of the reasons the KP trade is really good for us, similar to Jimmy last year. We don’t feel like we gave up a ton. We still have the kind of firepower to move forward and do more deals.”
- Checking in on Kerr’s future in Golden State, Siegel reports that the Warriors would like to keep the veteran head coach in his role as long as he wants and that the hope has always been that he and Curry will retire together. While a January report indicated that Kerr’s assistants have been operating as if 2025/26 will be his last year, Siegel doesn’t get the sense that the coaching staff is expecting that outcome.
- Hield was one of Green’s “favorite teammates of all time” and “left a mark” on the franchise, the former Defensive Player of the Year said on Saturday’s episode of The Draymond Green Show (hat tip to Will Simonds of NBC Sports Bay Area). “To see him go, you feel the gap, you feel the hole, you feel it,” Green said. “It’s like I said before, it’s the s–ttiest part of the business.”
“Curry beat Lebron”
“Curry had too much help”
“Who was the help?”
“Klay, Dray and Iggy”
“So you admit Draymond was elite for 4 years”
“Draymond is a Euroleaguer who rode Curry and would not get a job on any other team.”
“But he was also part of “too much help?”
“Yeah”
These idiotic haters never cease to amaze me.
The problem is, Draymond’s career is not a black and white thing, he literally was putting up elite, “top 20 guys in the league” numbers from age 24-27 aka his best offensive years. He settled into an “above average player” most of his other years, as his offense tanked for some reason. Is that a HOFer? Sure. Is it “he wouldn’t make a bench on any other team”? No, that is bs. He also would have proven he was a playmaker and eased into that point-center role on any other team. The funniest thing about Draymond’s career is that it would look identical in any other era of the NBA. A rare one. I hate him for the punch, but Kerr caused that punch. Otherwise it’s been really fun having him on my team.
Davey arguing with the voices in his head again.
Classic. So Kerr did a mind meld and forced Draymond to throw the punch huh? Tell me more.
“Kerr caused that punch”
Ok, I’ll bite. Care to expound?
Kerr demanded Poole to say something wild to Draymond.
You are the only one who believes that.
Prove it.
Shhhhh. Davey J. 1.0 told him that so it must be true.
Not a great presser by Dunleavy by any stretch.
Possible trades for Warriors:
Jimmy Butler – $56,832,773 and a 2027 1st rounder (lottery protected) to Clippers for Kawhi Leonard – $50,300,000
Moses Moody – $12,500,000 and Draymond Green – $27,678,571 for Bam Adebayo – $51,935,268 with 2029 1st round pick and 2032 1st round pick
Next year’s lineup:
PG – Stephen Curry – $62,587,158M
SG – Target a SG in the 1st round
SF – Kawhi Leonard – $50,300,000
PF – Bam Adebayo – $51,935,268
C – Kristaps Porzingis – $25,000,000 (estimated)
Bench: Spencer, Melton, Post, Richard, Pods, rest can be bench fillers
Objective: This allows Warriors to get a quality player in Kawhi who has the same contract length as Steph (neither will retire obviously), along with Bam who is a quality 4 and will help anchor the defense (Draymond role with more offense), then you resign KP as a moderate rate.
Warriors would have to sacrifice two picks in Kawhi and Bam, but you allocate them instead of going all in for Giannis or someone else. It resets the cap as well for the loaded 2027 free agency class.
Just something outside the box I thought off.
Sillivan lives
After Luka for AD, anything is possible.
they can just sign KP if he shows he can be healthy and keep their draft picks.
Yeah I have them resigning, sorry forgot to mention that part. Hence the $25M probably for 3 years or something (third being a player opt).
Too high of a price to pay for Bam. Clippers will never do a deal with warriors. Look how they blew that deal for George. their reason was not to trade with warriors. Thank God they didn’t do the trade.
I think you severely underestimate Bam’s defense and rebounding. He’s a very solid get plus if you are contending, you need a 4 these days and he’s the perfect guy next to KP.
Good for Warriors to accept as facf not a single other team in the nba views kuminga as a potential star (bc he most definitely is no he’s a future Role player at hest ) and got what they Could for him ! Even actually belive KP will be a pleasant surprise for Them an plzy like like he did in 24 if managed properly
They accepted that years ago. There was just no legitimate way to move him.
They.bsrely offered any sweeteners with him to get trey Murphy ! Like just one first with Kuminga and that’s a comically terrible offer
No way Murphy is worth salary matching and 3 FRPs.
He’s worth more than kuminga and a single first ! Kuminga actually ended up getting traded for his true fair value
Why would they trade a 1st to get rid of Kuminga when they have no one under contract after next season? Teams rebuild through the draft.
They where offering a first or firs plural bc they wanted to upgrade but they didn’t accept till the day before the deadline kuminga wss not a trade asset
First of all. The Pels aren’t trading Murphy. That is well known. 2nd. Most deals happen the day of the trading deadline.
They wouldn’t add Moody to potential JJJ trade? Look he’s a nice role player but come on…..that’s crazy
Moody has been starting the last 2 years, he’s a bit better than a “nice role player” he is more leaning towards “potential all-star”. When those 3’s go in, there’s almost no difference between him and prime Klay Thompson. Moody is a perfect fit for this system.
There is war on logic and reality when it almost anything Warriors is reported or commented on
You’re absolutely correct. They would’ve parted with all combos of everyone excluding Steph for him.
Can’t assume that front office knows what it’s doing – it held onto Kuminga in the belief (or blind hope) that someone valued him enough to take the problem away. It seems there’s a large disconnect between their read on the market, and what the market actually is.
When you’ve had Dray/Klay/Steph all together at once, and maturing together at the same time, you’re fortunate. But it also looks like, outside of that, the front office doesn’t know what to do.
They knew what they were doing. They were just stuck due to the way trades have to be structured.
Trade structures are absolutely not the main reason why. The Kuminga saga dragged on for literally years – they didn’t know what to do with him prior to his restricted free agency, re-signed him anyway only for him to be removed from the rotation, then offloaded him for a guy who can’t even get healthy enough to be in a rotation.
They didn’t value him internally, but clearly thought that eventually, someone else will value him highly, so they sat on it for an age, then got left holding the bag.
They knew what to do with him. Kuminga just wanted to do something else.
His athleticism made him to valuable to trade before he was extension eligible. He rejected the extension. What signed for was what his market is.
The Warriors have a very good medical staff. They can KP serviceable.
You just proved my point – if he had trade value prior to signing his extension, the Warriors fumbled it. By the time his extension rolled around, the saga was already well drawn out. They ended up trading him for 20 cents on the dollar.
I want to see Kristaps get healthy, because he’s great to watch, but you’re buying a lottery ticket if you think the Warriors staff can fix him. He’s played 60 games in a season once since 2017.
“the hope has always been that he and Curry will retire together.” but why? literally who cares?? kerr isnt good at his very important job. theres better options out there.
All dynastys come to a end but the funny thing its not the warrior fans complaining but the haters. When was the last time a team had a 10 year run? 4 titles in that run might be something that is never matched for a long time with the new CBA cap.
The window is not closed, they still have 3 spaces available for high paid superstars. Curry needs to pivot back to being a normal PG and not this off-ball cardio stuff he’s been doing so well. He has other options. Curry will not retire anytime soon, he will play deep into 40s bombing 3’s and trying to get closer to Lebron in all-time points scored.
Even without the CBA, that is about what you expect from a dynasty type of run. I enjoyed and appreciated every minute of it. I’m looking forward to the next one. It might take awhile. But, I think Dunleavy can pull it off.
Anyone who doesn’t think Curry is close to retirement doesn’t realize what he does off the court. He has a nice productive life setup for himself after hoops. Did you know Curry won an Oscar?
Don’t have the same confidence in Dunleavy that you do. I like Melton and Horford but Butler’s age and injury history made the present situation likely. And now he’s untouchable? Come on.
Dunleavy inherited what Myers left him.
i want to see what MDJ can do with a draft pick that isn’t a 2nd rounder. One that he can scout the players and pick a guy who fits the team.
Atleast your dynasty didnt end on a nuclear bomb in house by a fat POS. Should’ve won another one bc 1999 was super weak and they had an entire half season to rest since they were the oldest team in the league. Woukd have benefitted it for sure.
For ~ 10 year stretches…
Celtics 59-69 – 11 championships (11 years)
Lakers 80-88 – 5 championships (9 years)
Lakers 00-10 – 5 championships (11 years)
Bulls 91-98 – 6 championships (8 years)
Warriors 15-22 – 4 championships (8 years)
Feel free to add any championship dynasties I’ve overlooked.
Spurs?
Now we have the NBA making sure they never happen by having strict rules with a CBA.
Funny thing is that dynasties are synonymous with the NBA since the Mikan led Lakers squads. NBA wants to be MLB so bad lol.
MLB is a waste to watch with no cap its buy a championship. Dodgers and Yanks make it a waste to watch. I am not paying $100 a seat for a MLB game. Even 2nd deck tickets at a MLB game can start at $60 a ticket.
“Kristaps Porzingis is exactly the type of player the Warriors have wanted to add to their frontcourt for years…Golden State views the big man as a no-risk, potentially high-reward addition”
I think GS copied exactly what ATL said last year.
Dubs could have hard-pursued 3wiz Krejci and chose injured geriatric KP ????