Kristaps Porzingis made his much anticipated debut for the Golden State Warriors on Thursday night, finishing with 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting in an encouraging 17 minutes despite a 121-110 loss to the Boston Celtics.
The addition of the 7'2" center was always going to have ramifications on the Warrior rotation, and it instantly dealt a crushing blow to young big man Quinten Post who saw his first DNP of the entire season to date.
Kristaps Porzingis instantly forces Quinten Post out of the rotation
After starting 22-straight games during December and January, Post's minutes were already on the decline even before Golden State flipped Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield for Porzingis before the trade deadline earlier this month.
Post's minutes tumbled even further in the immediate aftermath of the trade, having seen less than 16 combined minutes and going scoreless in three matchups against the Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Lakers and Memphis Grizzlies.
There were signs of life right before the All-Star break though, with Post playing 13 minutes during a 126-113 loss to the San Antonio Spurs. The 25-year-old was productive too, dropping 12 points, three rebounds and two assists on 3-of-5 shooting from 3-point range, while also being one of only two Warrior players to record a positive plus-minus.
Evidently that wasn't enough. Post was completely staped to the bench on Thursday night, leaving Porzingis and Al Horford to eat up the majority of center minutes, along with Draymond Green as a small-ball five at the start of both halves.
Unless injury strikes -- which it could given Porzingis' history -- it's impossible to see how Post returns to the rotation outside of the second night of back-to-backs when Golden State are managing their veterans.
Porzingis' minutes will only go up after a solid first display, with the former All-Star already eager to play more and stating after the loss that he expects to play a couple more minutes on Sunday against the Denver Nuggets.
Post's DNP also came with Green playing less than 19 minutes, with Steve Kerr again going away from the franchise legend who had only two rebounds, three assists and missed all seven of his shots while being a -28 in a horror performance.
The DNP comes at a bad time for the second-year center who is playing for a new contract. Post will be a restricted free agent in the offseason, but his ability to command a multi-year deal at over $5 million annually could be crushed by Porzingis who has already forced him from the rotation entirely.