Golden State Warriors guard Will Richard suffered a UCL tear in his left thumb during the team's overtime win over the Magic on Saturday.

ClutchPoints' Brett Siegel wrote on X that Richard is out indefinitely, which makes sense considering a UCL tear often keeps an athlete out for weeks.

Richard is averaging 5.1 points in his 10 appearances (three starts). The counting stats don't do him justice, though, as his on-ball defense has really helped the Warriors.

Richard is the fourth player on a Warriors standard contract who is out indefinitely. Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody have long-term knee injuries. Kristaps Porzingis has a health issue that could force him to retire.

Payton, Williams, Melton Among Guards Who Could See More Playing Time

Gary Payton II should see the biggest playing time increase from Richard's injury. Richard and Payton were essentially the fifth and sixth guards on the depth chart. Now any time the Warriors need minutes from their fifth guard, Payton will get the nod.

To this point, Brandon Williams has played almost all of his minutes when Stephen Curry has been on the bench. Richard's injury makes it slightly more likely that Williams will play some minutes with Curry.

De'Anthony Melton is essentially Brandin Podziemski's backup shooting guard. He could see a small playing time increase with Richard out.

Porzingis Trade Becomes More Dire

The Warriors need more healthy bodies. They were already heavily relying on Richard when Stephen Curry, Draymond and Al Horford were given rest days. Now the Dubs will be even more short-handed when their veterans need a day off.

The most obvious fix is to trade Porzingis for any decent player.

Preferably, the player coming to the Bay would be a center. The Warriors were outrebounded 57-42 against the Magic on Saturday, as their interior defense finally showed major cracks in the foundation (as I wrote here).

Porzingis has a $20 million 2026-27 salary. The most straightforward trade would be Porzingis alone for anyone making up to $20 million.

If the Dubs want someone making more than $20 million, they would have to include another player for salary-matching purposes, as they can't take back more salary than they receive in a trade.

If the Warriors can't get a center, they should target an on-ball defender—preferably one with length to guard wings, though any quality on-ball defender would be a godsend.

Porzingis shouldn't be particulary difficult to trade. He's expected to accept a buyout right after any trade, so the receiving team will save money for dealing for him.