On Sunday, Golden State Warriors fans learned that the team would be without Steph Curry for at least five more games after missing the past 10. The earliest he could return is on March 13 against the Timberwolves. There still isn't a timeline for when Kristaps Porziņģis may play again, which makes the front office's decision to trade for him even more puzzling.
Curry last played on Jan. 30, days before the trade deadline. As Steve Kerr said soon after the deal happened, the Warriors wouldn't have proceeded with it if they didn't think Porziņģis would be healthy and consistently in the lineup. Well, so far, he's played only one game.
Without Curry, it'd be nice for Golden State to be able to turn to Porziņģis, who had a strong showing in his debut, scoring 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting in his debut. He's been out due to the illness that caused him to miss significant time last season, and part of this season when he was in Atlanta. He won't play tonight against the Clippers, who will have Kawhi Leonard and Darius Garland.
Porzingis is not at Warriors shootaround. He remains out tonight vs. Clippers because of an illness. This is the fifth straight game he will miss.
— Nick Friedell (@NickFriedell) March 2, 2026
Kristaps Porzingis will miss the Warriors' game against Clippers
This is in no way meant to be a slight at Porziņģis, who would undoubtedly be on the court if he were able to. After the trade, he was clearly excited to be in the Bay, and he has since spoken highly of the medical staff. It's far more unfortunate for him than the Warriors that he's unable to play.
Golden State knew the risk that it was taking when it traded for KP (or should've known), though, and it certainly doesn't help that Jonathan Kuminga has looked like a budding star in his first three games for Atlanta. The forward is in a position to help the Hawks make some noise in the play-in tournament, and potentially even the playoffs.
The Warriors can only wish that Porziņģis were helping them do the same, but he played only 17 games for the Hawks before the trade. He played only 42 last season for the Celtics. If they were banking on KP not running into any health concerns to end the season, they were quickly reminded otherwise.
You can say that Golden State's season truly ended when Jimmy Butler went down with a torn ACL, but the team isn't in a position to tank, not with the bottom half of the West in a race to the bottom. It doesn't matter anyway, as if there's a chance Curry can return (and there is), the Warriors will try to make a playoff push. That's why their trade for Porziņģis was so important, or supposed to be.
All fans can hope is that the big man returns soon.