When was the last time the Golden State Warriors had a truly consistent shot-blocking presence? It's felt like years since the franchise possessed such a player, largely because, yes, it has been years and years.
Kristaps Porzingis could be about to change that upon his integration to the Warriors after the All-Star break, giving the team a thrilling new element they simply haven't had in arguably the entire Steve Kerr era.
Kristaps Porzingis brings shot-blocking presence to the Warriors
While the focus may largely be on what Porzingis can provide Golden State offensively as the likely second-leading scorer, it's the defensive end that could be just as important as the franchise continues their push for the playoffs.
The Warriors have often been an elite defensive team under Kerr, but not necessarily by being an elite shot-blocking team in a way that can often bring the crowd out of their seats. That's even more so the case this season where Golden State, despite ranking eighth in defensive rating, are only 22nd in blocks per game.
Only Al Horford (1.1) averages more than 0.6 blocks per game for the Warriors this season. For context, 95 players in the league average more than 0.6 per game. It's a credit to Kerr and the coaching staff that this has been a top 10 defense when there's been issues at the point of attack, along with no genuine rim protector on the back line.
At 7'2" though, Porzingis can provide just that. The Latvian big man averages 1.8 blocks per game for his career, easily ranked above any Golden State player this season. In fact, you'd have to go all the way back to Kevin Durant of all players in the 2017-18 championship year to find a Warrior player who averaged at least 1.8 blocks per game in a single season.
Of course, whether this can actually improve the Golden State defense is most important. There's a lot of big men around the league who can block shots, but don't actually improve their team on that end in any material way.
Regardless, having someone that big who can be a deterrent at the rim is going to make for a nice change for Warrior fans, so long as Porzingis can remain relatively healthy which, of course, has been the big question over the entirety of his career.
If Porzingis can remain healthy and can have significant two-way impact, perhaps the Warriors can still be a bigger force than many believe after the season-ending injury to 6x All-Star Jimmy Butler.