The Golden State Warriors may already have a headache trying to re-sign veteran center Kristaps Porzingis during the offseason, and that could only become more problematic in the wake of Stephen Curry's latest injury update.
Having already missed five-straight games before the All-Star break, the Warriors announced on Thursday that Curry will miss at least a further five games and be re-evaluated in 10 days due to his ongoing knee injury.
Stephen Curry injury may cause further headaches to Kristaps Porzingis' free agency
Porzingis made his debut for Golden State on Thursday night, showing some positive signs in finishing with 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting in 17 minutes during a 121-110 defeat to the Boston Celtics.
But whether Porzingis remains with the Warriors beyond this season remains to be seen, and will largely depend on how far the franchise is willing to go to keep the 30-year-old as an unrestricted free agent in the summer.
Golden State do have bird rights on Porzingis who is making $30.7 million this season, but what exactly he's worth could be a great source of debate given his significant injury and health concerns.
How much the Warriors are willing to pay the former All-Star will be impacted by how well he fits with the team's best player. Unfortunately with this latest update on Curry's knee injury, Golden State may not get as much data as they'd otherwise want on the pairing between he and Porzingis.
On paper, it should work incredibly effectively. One of the most fascinating elements of the trade is just what sort of impact Curry and Porzingis can have on each other, with the latter arguably the most offensively-talented center that the 2x MVP has played with in his entire 17-year career with the Warriors.
Porzingis showcased that offensive skill in his brief minutes on Thursday, starting his Warrior career with a thunderous dunk inside, before punishing mismatches on a couple of more occassions, as well as bombing a couple of threes from well beyond the arc.
Not only is it disappointing that we'll have to wait to see the Curry-Porzingis tandem, but Mike Dunleavy Jr. and the front office will surely want to see it for extended minutes before committing to the latter on a reasonable new contract.
With only 26 games remaining in the regular season, and Golden State hardly guaranteed a playoff spot, time is running out for the veteran pair to play together and develop chemistry. The Warriors need to see them together to evaluate the fit, even if the hopes of a championship this season ultimately faded with Jimmy Butler's season-ending injury.