There was plenty of optimism emerging from Kristaps Porzingis' debut with the Golden State Warriors on Thursday night, but that's evaporated after the veteran center was ruled out of Sunday's game against the Denver Nuggets on Sunday due to illness.
The Warriors have quickly learnt that this might just be the reality with Porzingis, something the Atlanta Hawks found out months ago and contributed to the bombshell trade earlier this month that saw Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield depart the Bay Area.
Warriors quickly come to Kristaps Porzingis health realization
Porzingis was diagnosed with Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) syndrome while with the Boston Celtics last season, and while there's been no confirmation of what's caused this latest illness, it's fair to say the Latvian is always simply at risk of such an occurence that could cause him to miss time.
The 30-year-old's status for Golden State's upcoming two-game road trip is still uncertain, but there feels like a likelihood that Porzingis will miss at least one, or both of those matchups given the franchise will undoubtedly take a cautious approach.
The Hawks had hoped Porzingis would be a major addition when they traded for him during the offseason, and in fairness he was when available as his numbers remained in line with his career averages.
The issue was Porzingis only appeared in 17 games for Atlanta, and clearly by the trade deadline they were ready to move on from the constant question mark and headache (pardon the pun) of his availability.
It's an issue that stems all the way back to his third season (2017-18) in the league where he tore his ACL after 48 games, forcing Porzingis to miss all of the following year before being traded to the Dallas Mavericks.
Since his second year in the league, Porzingis has played more than 57 games in a season just once with the Washington Wizards in 2022-23. He appeared in just 42 games with the Celtics last season, and was a clearly diminished player during the playoffs due to the illness.
Golden State simply can't afford to have Porzingis on the sidelines regularly while Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler are also injured, not to mention you need some level of consistent availability when paying a player over $30 million.
The Warriors were also without Draymond Green who was a late scratch from Sunday's game due to a back injury, but it didn't matter as a short-handed squad produced a stunning 33-16 fourth-quarter to emerge with a 128-117 win over the Nuggets.