With just nine days until their regular season opener against the Los Angeles Lakers on Oct. 21, the Golden State Warriors remain without big man Kristaps Porziņģis, and it's unclear when that will change. Porziņģis, who signed a two-year, $40 million deal with the Warriors in the offseason, is sidelined with a mysterious illness.
In September, ahead of their training camp in Hawaii, the Warriors announced that Porziņģis would be out indefinitely.
"I'm not marking him down as being out to start the season or anything like that," Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy said at the time. "He's just not available this week. … Disappointed that he won't be out there tomorrow, but it's early, so don't want to overreact to anything."
Porziņģis has not been a participant during training camp nor played in any of the team's four preseason games thus far, and when coach Steve Kerr addressed reporters on Oct. 8, he didn't have much of an update.
"[Porziņģis] is not here today. We've obviously been busy in Hawaii and Portland, so we just came in and worked out the vets, had a really good practice. I'll reach out to KP today and check in with him, but nothing new to report," Kerr said. He added that he's texted with Porziņģis, who seems to be "doing OK."
The Warriors traded for Porziņģis at the deadline last season in a deal that sent Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield to the Atlanta Hawks. In 15 games with the Warriors after the move, Porziņģis averaged 16.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.1 blocks, while shooting just 43.3% from the field, including 31.1% from 3-point range.
The former No. 4 overall pick, Porziņģis has rarely been able to stay on the floor during his NBA career. Knee issues, including a torn ACL that cost him the entire 2018-19 season, have been the biggest issue. He's reached the 65-game mark just three times in 10 seasons, and in the last three seasons has played 57, 42 and 32 games, respectively for the Boston Celtics, Hawks and Warriors.
Near the end of his final season in Boston in 2025, Porziņģis started dealing with extreme fatigue, and was eventually diagnosed with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, or POTS, which is characterized by rapid changes in heart rate when a person stands up and can lead to exhaustion and dizziness.
"You know how people say, 'Oh, I'm so fatigued.' I've never used those words. I don't even like to speak in those terms, but I really was like that," Porziņģis said ahead of last season. "At that time, I could just lay on the couch and be a house cat."
Neither the Warriors nor Porziņģis, who hasn't addressed the media since April, have offered any insight into his current illness or whether it's related to POTS.
Sidelined in Golden State
The Warriors have three notable and well-paid players dealing with issues as the 2026-27 season begins
PlayerInjuryReturn timeline2026-27 ContractTorn ACL
Mid-season
$56.8 million
Kristaps Porziņģis
Illness
Unclear
$20 million
Torn patellar tendon
Dec -- March 2027
$12.5 million
Despite the obvious concerns about Porziņģis' health, the Warriors opted to re-sign him this summer because of his ceiling when healthy and their limited options to build a competitive team around their aging core of Steph Curry, Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler (who is also sidelined due to a torn ACL). Notably, the second year of Porziņģis' deal only has a partial guarantee of $3 million.
"I think in constructing (the roster), we had to make a decision between talent and availability," Dunleavy said in August. "There was no perfect solution in terms of a combination of the two, and I think we leaned a little bit more towards talent, knowing the team that we have, what we need. And (we) hope that we can get some good luck, but also improve in some areas medically."
So far, the Warriors haven't had much luck with Porziņģis, and between him, Butler and Moses Moody (sidelined due to a torn patellar tendon), they have about $90 million worth of contracts out due to injury.
"Circumstances change every year. You get thrown a lot of curveballs in this business. It's always the same mentality -- next man up, prepare for what's in front of you and support everybody who's not here," Kerr said on Oct. 8. "Whether it's Jimmy or KP or Moses, we're always gonna give our players every bit of support and help them be the best versions of themselves and acknowledge that the train doesn't stop moving. We're having a great camp, really pleased with the progress we're making. Obviously, we'd rather have KP here and part of it, but he's gotta take care of his health and we'll support that and keep moving forward with the team."
Add CBS Sports on Google Join the Conversation comments
