Finding a trade partner for Kristaps Porzingis may be a lot less complicated for the Golden State Warriors than it first looked.
The latest wrinkle comes from Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints, who reported Thursday that Porzingis could be open to a buyout worth as little as $3-4 million. If that holds, rival teams would have a much cleaner path to moving more than $15 million off their books in a deal.
That possibility changes the math for Golden State. Instead of a messy standoff, the Warriors are looking at a situation where Porzingis’ willingness to take less money could make a trade easier to complete. And given that Golden State has already stopped paying him while his absence from the team continues, the idea of a buyout doesn’t exactly come out of nowhere.
The whole setup has also turned heads around the league. The Warriors are effectively sitting on a near-$20 million trade exception because of the Porzingis situation, which has led some to wonder whether the structure of it all is a loophole worth the league’s attention going forward.
There’s also the contract itself. Golden State signed Porzingis to a two-year, $40 million extension before free agency, with only $3 million of the second year guaranteed. He was also trade-eligible the moment the deal was signed.
From the Warriors’ perspective, this is still a better outcome than dealing with a player who insists on full payment and refuses a buyout. They would rather have the 31-year-old around the team and, ideally, on the floor. But Porzingis appearing comfortable with not getting paid is a major advantage for Golden State.
Siegel expects a deal to happen before December 15, which would give the Warriors the chance to re-aggregate the player or players they receive in another move before the mid-season trade deadline. Golden State already used a similar path two years ago, landing Dennis Schroder on December 15 before flipping the veteran guard as part of the blockbuster Jimmy Butler trade in February.
That leaves open the possibility of a short-term addition now, with the flexibility to package that player later if a bigger move presents itself closer to the deadline.
In Other News...
Klay Thompson Just Gave Warriors Fans A First They Never Saw
Klay Thompson keeps finding new ways to add to a career that already had a long list of big moments, and this one came in a uniform Warriors fans never expected to see him wear. Playing for the Miami Heat, Thompson delivered his first career game-winning three-pointer in the final five seconds, lifting Miami to a 117-116 win over the Los Angeles Clippers and adding another late-game chapter to a rsum that was already packed with clutch shots and playoff memories from Golden State.
For Warriors fans, the odd part is how long they watched Thompson thrive in the biggest moments without ever getting this exact finish. He scored 30 points in the game and helped carry the Heat alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo, but the lasting image was the shot at the buzzer-window, the kind of moment that somehow had never happened before for one of the leagues most familiar sharpshooters. [Read more 🡒]
Warriors Rumor Could Reshape Steph Currys Final Title Chase
The Warriors are already being linked to one of the biggest names in the league, and the idea says plenty about how they view the next phase of Stephen Currys run. With injuries again testing the roster and the front office looking for ways to keep the team in the title mix, Golden State is reportedly keeping an eye on Nikola Jokic as a possible target next summer.
It is the kind of speculation that instantly changes the conversation around Currys final championship chase, because a player of Jokics caliber would reshape the ceiling of the roster in a major way. The uncertainty around Jokics long-term future in Denver, including delayed extension talks and the possibility of free agency, is what makes the rumor worth watching, even if the path to getting him is anything but simple. [Read more 🡒]
Warriors Still Have One Big Center Question As Graham Ike Waits
The Warriors are still sorting through their center options, and the picture remains unsettled even as the season moves along. Draymond Green, Al Horford, Charles Bassey and Graham Ike all sit in the mix, giving Golden State a few different looks but no clear long-term answer in the middle. Bassey helped himself with a promising recent showing, which at least gave the staff something tangible to weigh as it keeps evaluating the rotation.
Ike, meanwhile, remains the name to watch because he has not had enough floor time to really establish whether he can be part of the solution. The Warriors would still like to reshape the position before the trade deadline, with the goal of moving Kristaps Porzingis contract and turning that into a more dependable center option. For now, though, the search continues, and the uncertainty at the spot is still one of the more important roster issues hanging over the team. [Read more 🡒]