Kristaps Porziņģis' latest health problem is the same old story for the Warriors

Kristaps Porziņģis' latest health problem is the same old story for the Warriors originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

The vibe around media day throughout the NBA is akin to returning to school, seeing your friends after a summer away and getting the laughs out now that it’s time to get back to work.

For the Warriors, the vibe shifted early in the morning, long before the team boarded a plane to Hawaii for training camp. Everything changed in the opening statements from general manager Mike Dunleavy. As he started his ninth sentence of the day, a “here we go again” attitude could be felt near and far just as the day had begun. 

“Additionally, Kristaps [Porziņģis] is going to be out indefinitely with a health issue that I was informed about yesterday, so he’ll miss the start of camp here,” Dunleay announced. “Don’t have a timeline for him or anything further than that. So we’re a little banged up to start, but we’ve got plenty of depth. We’ll get through it.” 

Dunleavy couldn’t provide more information aside from Porziņģis now being sidelined for an unknown period because of a “health matter.” The Warriors found out about the problem Sunday and Porziņģis did not travel with the team to Hawaii. He, at the very least, will miss training camp and the first preseason game. 

Is this another tough turn of events or what we should expect for the entire season from a Warriors team being held together by Rick Celibrini’s first aid kit? Maybe somewhere in the middle? 

Acquiring Porziņģis at last season’s trade deadline for Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield put a deflated balloon on the Warriors’ failed two-timelines plan. Porziņģis has the kind of tantalizing talent that made him the No. 4 pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, that made him an All-Star in his third season and that has seen him average 20 points per game in six different seasons. He’s the NBA’s first unicorn, and equally as mystifying as his nickname that depicts a mythological character. 

How the Warriors viewed Porziņģis going into this season essentially was as an offseason acquisition they get to have a full go with. His talent is what earned him a two-year, $40 million contract extension from the Warriors with virtually no outside competition. But his long history of missing games from injury and an ongoing health matter is why his contract only has $3 million guaranteed next season. 

Porziņģis started the final 10 regular-season games he suited up for, as well as the Warriors’ two play-in games. The results weren’t perfect, but they provided a blueprint of how coach Steve Kerr wants to move forward with his offense. He wants Draymond Green to shoot more. He wants to have a five-out offense, and Porziņģis, as a 7-foot-2 marksman from long distance, is the ideal center to stretch the floor and accomplish Kerr’s goal. 

“KP and Al [Horford] have really provided us that spacing at that spot,” Kerr said Monday. “That’s important if you are playing the more modern style that we’re looking at. So we know we’re going to need Kristaps, and we feel very confident that we’ll have him at some point. Al, of course, he’s ready to go, and he’ll provide that as well.” 

Losing Porziņģis for an undisclosed time both changes the starting lineup, and turns up the pressure cooker on several players. Horford most likely will step into the starting center role, which he did 13 times last season. He and Green will have to be better together from the jump. The two played 266 minutes over 32 games last season and produced an ugly minus-13.8 net rating with a 99.3 offensive rating and a 113.1 defensive rating. 

Horford, 40, will need to be the player he was from Christmas on last season instead of the one who started off extremely slow, couldn’t find his shot and missed multiple weeks to sciatica. He won’t be the only one feeling the burden of Porziņģis’ absence. 

So will Yaxel Lendeborg. As will Brandin Podziemski. Third-string center Charles Bassey will have to step up, and even Graham Ike, who recently was signed to a two-way contract. 

And yes, losing Porziņģis for an extended period would put even more weight on the back of a hunched-over Steph Curry. 

The Warriors superstar doesn’t have his co-pilot to navigate the start of the season. Jimmy Butler was the Warriors’ other player who could drop 20 points on any given night. Porziņģis is the hypothetical second option who can be a mismatch out of the post and beyond the arc. The Warriors will keep their fingers crossed he can somehow be exactly that by the time the regular season rolls around in a few weeks. 

“I’m not marking him down as being out to start the season or anything like that,” Dunleavy said. “He’s just not available this week.” 

In the three seasons prior to trading for Porziņģis, the veteran big man averaged 21.1 points and 7.6 rebounds per game while shooting 38.9 percent from 3-point range and winning a championship ring with the Boston Celtics in that span. But his games played went from 65 to 57 to 42. This past season, he played 32 regular-season games and missed 50. 

Like Dunleavy said, Porziņģis could be back at the beginning of the season. Yet fans can’t expect that. The real expectations are this is how it’s going to be for however long Porziņģis wears a Warriors jersey. He will show flashes of a unicorn and then gallop off into the forest, unbeknownst to anybody. 

Palm trees, sand in their toes and the smell of the ocean will bring the vibes back to fun and positivity throughout Warriors training camp. The spotlight will continue to shine on Lendeborg and Curry can always make believers close their eyes to reality. 

It’s just too bad the same old story for the Warriors started in the opening statements of media day. Moving forward will be another challenge for a group that loves to be doubted. There’s also only so much wiggle room for a team already standing on the edge of a cliff.

Download and follow the Dubs Talk Podcast