With just nine days until their regular season opener against the Los Angeles Lakers on Oct. 21, the Golden State Warriors remain without big man Kristaps Porziņģis, and it's unclear when that will change. Porziņģis, who signed a two-year, $40 million deal with the Warriors in the offseason, is sidelined with a mysterious illness. In September, ahead of their training camp in Hawaii, the Warriors announced that Porziņģis would be out indefinitely.
"I'm not marking him down as being out to start the season or anything like that," Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy said at the time. "He's just not available this week. … Disappointed that he won't be out there tomorrow, but it's early, so don't wantto overreact to anything." Porziņģis has not been a participant during training camp nor played in any of the team's four preseason games thus far, and when coach Steve Kerr addressed reporters on Oct. 8, he didn't have much of an update. "[Porziņģis] is not here today.
We've obviously been busy in Hawaii and Portland, so we just came in and worked out the vets, had a really good practice. I'll reach out to KP today and check in with him, but nothing new to report," Kerr said. He added that he's texted with Porziņģis, who seems to be "doing OK." The Warriors traded for Porziņģis at the deadline last season in a deal that sent Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield to the Atlanta Hawks.
In 15 games with the Warriors after the move, Porziņģis averaged 16.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.1 blocks, while shooting just 43.3% from the field, including 31.1% from 3-point range. The former No. 4 overall pick, Porziņģis has rarely been able to stay on the floor during his NBA career. Knee issues, including a torn ACL that cost him the entire 2018-19 season, have been the biggest issue.
He's reached the 65-game mark just three times in 10 seasons, and in the last three seasons has played 57, 42 and 32 games, respectively for the Boston Celtics, Hawks and Warriors. Near the end of his final season in Boston in 2025, Porziņģis started dealing with extreme fatigue, and was eventually diagnosed with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, or POTS, which is characterized by rapid changes in heart rate when a person stands up and can lead to exhaustion and dizziness. "You know how people say, 'Oh, I'm so fatigued.' I've never used those words.
I don't even like to speak in those terms, but I really was like that," Porziņģis said ahead of last season. "At that time, I could just lay on the couch and be a house cat." Neither the Warriors nor Porziņģis, who hasn't addressed the media since April, have offered any insight into his current illness or whether it's related to POTS. The Warriors have three notable and well-paid players dealing with issues as the 2026-27 season begins Despite the obvious concerns about Porziņģis' health, the Warriors opted to re-sign him this summer because of his ceiling when healthy and their limited options to build a competitive team around their aging core of Steph Curry, Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler (who is also sidelined due to a torn ACL).
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