The Warriors’ Kristaps Porzingis situation has reached the point where the only real question is timing.
Golden State has to move the contract. There’s no escaping that.
Porzingis’ social media post made the situation even messier, but the bigger issue is simpler: the Warriors can’t keep an inactive player tied up in that much money for the rest of the season. At the same time, their recent winning streak has taken some of the pressure off.
They’re not desperate for another rotation body right now, especially with Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody expected back around mid-season.
Still, the front office has a path to something bigger if it plays this right. Even with Porzingis unavailable, his deal remains the team’s best trade chip. Because it functions almost like an expiring contract, with only $3 million guaranteed in the second year, Golden State could use it to land a useful rotation piece now or package it closer to the deadline for a star-level salary.
That’s where the clock comes in. The cleanest deadline for the Warriors is Dec. 16, the last day a player acquired can be traded again before the deadline. That gives Golden State a window to make a move without boxing itself in later.
The danger is jumping too early. Porzingis’ value isn’t likely to rise, but it also isn’t likely to fall much either, and any one-for-one move to get off the contract is probably going to require at least a couple of second-round picks.
The problem is the market. Teams trying to stay competitive are not eager to dump useful players right now, especially with the new Draft Lottery rules discouraging tanking.
That leaves the Warriors with a narrow pool of possible partners. If a team with a starting-caliber center were suddenly willing to move one, that would be the kind of deal Golden State should pounce on.
A strong, perimeter-shooting wing would also make sense to some degree. But those kinds of opportunities are limited this deep into the season.
So the more realistic play may be to take back a helpful rotation player, regardless of position, and preserve flexibility for later. Golden State has done something similar before, when it acquired Dennis Schröder using De’Anthony Melton’s contract in 2024-25 before turning around and using that flexibility in the Butler trade before the deadline.
One possible example: swapping Porzingis’ contract for Grayson Allen’s before Dec. 16.
Allen might not be the cleanest fit for a Warriors backcourt that already has plenty of guards, but he is a career 40% 3-point shooter. If he gets real minutes in Golden State between the trade and the Feb. 11 deadline, his value could climb enough for the Warriors to package him with another asset in a bigger move.
There are hurdles there too. Allen has a fully guaranteed player option this offseason, and the Warriors have already shown hesitation about taking on money beyond this year in a Porzingis deal.
Even so, unless a far better option suddenly appears, moving Porzingis for a solid rotation player may be Golden State’s best path. That makes Dec. 16 the soft deadline to watch.
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Klay Thompson Just Reopened A Warriors Debate Fans Can't Ignore
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For Warriors fans, that is the part that keeps the conversation alive. Thompson is under contract with Miami now, but he also has a player option for next season, which leaves the door open just enough to keep the speculation going. Even with the move already made, his connection to Golden State has not gone away, and this latest visit only reminded everyone how hard it is to fully close the book on a player who helped define an era. [Read more 🡒]