The Warriors are in a difficult bind as far as trying to find an appealing trade involving Kristaps Porzingis, writes Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints.
ESPN reported that Porzingis was “seriously contemplating his future in basketball” as he continues to deal with recurring symptoms from postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, or POTS, an autoimmune condition. Porzingis confirmed the POTS diagnosis last October.
While the Latvian big man was limited to just 32 combined appearances last season with Atlanta and Golden State, the Warriors were optimistic about his health status when they signed him to a two-year, $40MM extension over the summer, league sources tell Siegel, and never seriously considered letting him walk in free agency. Porzingis will carry a $20MM cap hit this season and next, but only $3MM of his 2027/28 salary is guaranteed.
The Warriors – who are operating over the first tax apron – can’t take back more salary than they send out in a trade, so they’d have to attach at least one more player to Porzingis in order to acquire a player who makes more than $20MM this season. That could complicate matters, especially since several Warriors players are ineligible to be traded until at least December 15.
For instance, the Warriors reportedly reached out to the Bucks about Porzingis, with Myles Turner seemingly a logical fit from a positional standpoint. He’s also on a contract that Milwaukee would probably like to shed a year after signing him to a nine-figure payday in free agency.
But the Bucks aren’t believed to be interested in Porzingis, and even if they were, Turner ($26.6MM this season, $83.6MM over the next three years) makes more money than he does. Siegel points out that Moses Moody ($12.5MM) would tilt the scales in the other direction, but league sources tell Siegel the Warriors prefer to keep the injured wing and were only willing to trade him this offseason if it involved a “significant” roster upgrade.
Jimmy Butler (torn ACL) is another player recovering from a major knee injury, and Siegel’s sources have downplayed the possibility of the 37-year-old being dealt by Golden State this season.
Siegel says the Grizzlies are a team worth monitoring for Porzingis down the line. League sources tell ClutchPoints that the Grizzlies, who have a $28.9MM traded player exception, intend to utilize that TPE as a tool to add to their draft stash by taking on an unwanted contract. Siegel wonders if a deal involving former Warriors big man Quinten Post could make sense once he becomes trade-eligible in December.
Here’s more from Siegel:
Karl-Anthony Towns recently confirmed he’s willing to less than his max — $276MM over four years — in a potential extension with the Knicks, who are reportedly offering around $200MM over four seasons. Siegel hears the six-time All-Star big man is rumored to be seeking in the range of $225-240MM over four years, which works out to $55-60MM annually. According to Siegel, “many” people around the league believe the two sides will eventually work out a new deal, but if that doesn’t happen, there’s an expectation that Towns will decline his $61MM option for 2027/28 to hit free agency next summer.
Rival front offices believe Magic guard Anthony Black will top $20MM per year as a restricted free agent in 2027, per Siegel, who says Orlando’s rookie scale extension offer to the former sixth overall pick “didn’t come close” to that figure. Black’s extension-eligibility window closed Monday evening. Opposing teams are keeping a close eye on the Magic this season due to their expensive payroll, Siegel adds, particularly maximum-salary forwards Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner.
The Jazz, Bulls and Bucks were among the teams the Lakers called about potential trades involving Dalton Knecht before they ended up waiving the former first-round pick on Monday, league sources tell Siegel. According to Siegel, Milwaukee wanted multiple second-round picks or a first-round swap for a deal involving Knecht and Jericho Sims, but Los Angeles couldn’t do that trade one-for-one and didn’t want to part with those assets to shed Knecht’s salary. After clearing waivers on Wednesday, Knecht signed a two-way contract with the Knicks on Friday.