Kristaps Porzingis should've been the answer to the Golden State Warriors' center search. Because of Draymond Green's unique skill set, they've been in dire need of the NBA's big-man build: a floor-spacer who doubles as an equally effective rim protector. And a healthy Porzingis, whom the Warriors for Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield, is one of the few players capable of acing both assignments.
The problem is a healthy Porzingis is spotted about as often as Bigfoot. The Warriors have played eight contests since the trade, and Porzingis has appeared in all of one of them: an up-and-down 17-minute showing with 12 points and a single rebound. You'd hope this wasn't his forever fate, but he's not even a month into his tenure with the team, and he's already a walking question mark.
"As I'm learning, it feels questionable every single game," ESPN's Anthony Slater remarked on the Warriors Stock Report.
Porzingis may never be the same player again.
Since stepping inside the big fella's size 16s for a stroll in his shoes isn't possible, it's hard to know exactly what Porzingis is going through. It's entirely possible, however, to see the way that what he's going through is effecting him.
The last time he played even 60 games in a season was 2016-17. He didn't reach the 50-game threshold last season and obviously won't this year. And while that maybe makes him an intriguing candidate for a contract that's cheaper than his talent should dictate, the bargain only carries so much value if he's essentially restricted to being a part-time player.
The Boston Celtics may have had reasons to want to cut costs this past offseason, but they also had reasons to include the subtraction of Porzingis as one of those cost-cutting measures. And while the Atlanta Hawks clearly shifted their focus forward with the Trae Young trade, they also saw value in turning Porzingis into players the Warriors clearly felt were non-essential to their success.
The pattern is...let's say suboptimal. And that is, to put this as eloquently as possible, a friggin' bummer. Because the full-strength Porzingis should check so many badly needed boxes for this bunch: support scoring for Stephen Curry, frontcourt spacing for Draymond Green (and, once he's healthy, Jimmy Butler), impact play on the interior. Areas that could, if everything broke right, push this team onto the cusp of contention as soon as next season.
But, again, he can only play those roles if he's...you know, actually playing. Hopefully, that starts happening with (much) more regularity soon, but all those blaring alarm sirens unfortunately suggest it probably won't.