Thursday night, the Golden State Warriors returned from the All-Star Break and lost without Stephen Curry to the Boston Celtics. It marked another return, as well: the newly-acquired Kristaps Porzingis made his debut for the team and showed fans a glimpse of why he is their secret weapon about to be unleashed at the best possible time.
The rest of the NBA has written off the Warriors. National media certainly has. They obviously cannot do anything of note without Stephen Curry, but once he returns in March, this is a team that can still make some noise. Instead, everyone is dismissing them as yesterday's news and declaring time of death on the dynasty.
It's possible the Warriors don't have another deep run in them, either this year without Jimmy Butler or future years with an even-older cast. But they also aren't going to spiral into the lottery if Curry and company can help it. And their best pathway to winning basketball involves their new weapon in the middle -- Porzingis.
Kristaps Porzingis is a great addition
The Boston Celtics can tell you about it, as they won a title starting Porzingis at center just two years ago. He is the ideal archetype of a modern center, a comfortable high-volume shooter from outside and a punishing shot-blocker in the paint on defense. Injuries and illness limited his impact on the Atlanta Hawks this year, but his skillset is such that he should fit like a glove on the Warriors.
For years, the team has tried to find a viable stretch big to put next to Draymond Green. That is why the team signed Al Horford this past summer. Add in his former teammate in Porzingis and you get an impactful combination that unlocks that 5-out spacing modern offenses love to play.
Spacing the court from the 5 opens up the paint for Curry to go to work, and his pick-and-pop game with Curry or Draymond would be lethal. On defense, the Warriors can play more aggressivly on the perimeter knowing he is behind them, and together he and Green would lock down the entire paint.
Porzingis has to get healthy for that impact to be realized; there is a reason that the Atlanta Hawks were open to moving him. He has struggled with POTS this year, holding him out of multiple games, and also had minor nagging injuries. He played in just 17 games for the Hawks and just made his debut Thursday for the Warriors.
If they get a healthy Porzingis, however, and pair him with Al Horford at the center position? Money. The league is ready to close the book on the Warriors, but Porzingis is coming in to prop it open. This team isn't done yet, and if they make any noise, it may be because of their secret weapon: the Latvian Unicorn.
If the Warriors can hang around the playoff picture even with Curry sidelined, then when they come back he can team with Green and Porzingis to put together a truly elite two-way trio and make some noise in the postseason. Curry has more magic in him -- and Porzingis may be the ticket to ensuring he gets to show it off.