DALLAS, TEXAS - MARCH 23: Kristaps Porzingis #7 of the Golden State Warriors looks on during the first half against the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center on March 23, 2026 in Dallas, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images)

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Golden State Warriors big man Kristaps Porziņģis announced Friday that he has decided to “prioritize my health and step away from the game I love.”

The Warriors initially announced in mid-October that Porziņģis would be “out indefinitely with a private health-related issue,” according to ESPN’s Anthony Slater. He’s spent the past few years dealing with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, which is “an autonomic condition that can dramatically increase a patient’s heart rate when standing up instead of spread horizontal,” per Fred Katz of The Athletic.

However, it’s become clear in recent weeks that Porziņģis would not be suiting up for the Warriors anytime soon… if ever. ESPN’s Shams Charania reported in late October that the Warriors had begun exploring trades for Porziņģis, who was “seriously contemplating his future in basketball.” And on Wednesday, Slater and Charania reported the Warriors were not paying him because of his failure to report to the team.

While Porziņģis is now stepping away from basketball at large, he’s still on the Warriors’ books for the time being. That might not change anytime soon, either.

Why The Warriors Are Keeping Porziņģis… For Now

On Friday, team and league sources confirmed to Slater that the Warriors are still able to dangle Porziņģis’ $20 million contract in trade talks between now and the Feb. 11 NBA trade deadline. He added that the Warriors “have no plan to void Porziņģis’ contract,” as they’re surveying “the league’s yet-to-materialize trade market in an effort to eventually improve a team that has jumped out to a 6-3 start with an ongoing six-game win streak.”

In his statement, Porziņģis said he wanted “to show the utmost respect” for the Warriors “and work with them to find a solution that makes sense.” Whether that’s a trade or a buyout will be determined in the coming weeks or months.

“Porziņģis is amenable to a trade and could actually become a relatively appealing contract for a rival team intent on shedding a longer-term salary or saving immediate money,” Slater wrote. “Porziņģis has only $3 million guaranteed on his deal next season, and the expectation is that he’d be open to a post-trade buyout that would save a team more than that.”

If another team wanted to dump a contract in the $20 million range that spans beyond this season, flipping that deal for Porziņģis could help it save long-term money. However, the Warriors don’t have much financial flexibility, which could limit their realistic trade options.

At the moment, the Warriors are $12.3 million above the first apron and less than $350,000 below the second apron. Since they’re above the first apron, they aren’t allowed to take back more salary than they give up in a trade. They’re also hard-capped at the second apron, so they aren’t allowed to cross that line under any circumstance this season.

Porziņģis is trade-eligible right now even though he signed his two-year, $40 million contract this past offseason because of the structure of the deal. However, most players who signed new deals in free agency won’t be trade-eligible until Dec. 15 at the earliest. That date is typically seen as the unofficial start of NBA trade season.

According to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line, the Warriors are hoping to trade Porziņģis either on Dec. 15 or Dec. 16 so the incoming player “can be re-aggregated with other contracts in a subsequent trade before the Feb. 11 trade deadline.” They pulled that same move two years ago when they traded De’Anthony Melton to the Brooklyn Nets for Dennis Schröder, only to later include Schröder in the package for Jimmy Butler.

However, sources told Fischer that the Warriors “are not exactly keen at this time to take back a player whose contract extends beyond this summer…unless the proposed deal brings back a player who clearly enhances the team’s future.” He noted the Warriors are trying “to maintain as much spending wherewithal as they can for the summer of 2027” since both Butler and Draymond Green are on expiring contracts.

Possible Porziņģis Trade Options?

That begs the question: Who might the Warriors be able to get for Porziņģis? And what else would they need to throw in?

Fischer reported that the Warriors are “prepared to part with draft capital and take on future money in-season if the deal brings back a worthwhile trade target.” However, he noted that the “pool of players that fit that description…appears to be small,” particularly given the Warriors’ trade restrictions due to their apron status.

For instance, Fischer said the Warriors “do not have Milwaukee’s Myles Turner high on their list of potential targets.” Turner is in the second year of a four-year, $108.9 million contract and is earning nearly $26.6 million this season, so the Warriors would have to include an extra $6.6 million in salary beyond Porziņģis’ deal to swing a deal for him. Al Horford ($6.8 million) or Moses Moody ($12.5 million) would be their only real options in that regard.

He also mentioned that the Warriors have called the Chicago Bulls about big man Jalen Smith, who’s earning only $9.4 million this season. However, the NBA’s new draft lottery looms large over Porziņģis trade talks as well, particularly with teams toward the bottom of the league’s standings. The teams with the three worst records in the league now have worse odds of landing a high draft pick than the other seven teams that miss the play-in tournament, so the Bulls might not want to trade a productive player in Smith for Porziņģis, even if the Warriors attach additional draft compensation.

There might be one way for the Warriors to thread both needles when it comes to a Porziņģis trade, and they wouldn’t even have to go out of state. The Los Angeles Clippers could be a logical trade partner if they’re unable to pull out of their early-season tailspin once Brandon Ingram makes his season debut.

The Clippers signed Rui Hachimura to a two-year, $28 million contract this past offseason, which contains a $14 million team option in 2027-28. The Clippers are more than $17 million below the NBA’s luxury-tax line, so they’re able to absorb more salary than they send out in a trade. They also don’t have control over their 2027 first-round pick, so the new lottery rules shouldn’t deter them from a teardown.

If the Warriors traded Porziņģis for Hachimura, they’d clear $6 million in salary, which would give them some much-needed breathing room below the second apron. His $14 million team option would also give them a chance to preserve their financial flexibility next offseason if they opted to go the full cap-space route.

The Warriors have control over all of their first-round picks other than in 2030 (they owe a top-20-protected pick to Memphis that year), but their only tradable second-round pick is in 2033. Would they be willing to part with a heavily protected first-rounder for Hachimura, or would they draw the line at a first-round pick swap and that 2033 second-rounder? That might determine their chances of landing Hachimura or a similar player.

While it’s suboptimal to not be getting anything out of Porziņģis’ $20 million salary slot for the time being, the early-season emergence of rookie forward Yaxel Lendeborg likely has most Warriors fans saying “Porziņģis who?” He’s out of sight, out of mind for now as he continues to deal with his health condition, but his contract could be the ticket for the Warriors to make a fairly substantial midseason upgrade.