Warriors star Kristaps Porziņģis will be out indefinitely as the team opens training camp in Hawaii, the team announced on Monday. Porziņģis is dealing with an undisclosed health issue. Acquired from the Hawks at the trade deadline in February, Porziņģis also missed time with illness and injury in the 2025-26 season.
Porziņģis missed more games (16) than he appeared in (15) after being traded to the Warriors. "I'm not marking him down as being out to start the season or anything like that," Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy said. "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 signed a two-year, $40 million deal to return to Golden State this summer after averaging 16.1 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 15 games with Golden State after the trade.
The Warriors acquired Porziņģis in a deal centered around Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield earlier this calendar year. Porziņģis, 31, hasn't played more than 60 games in each of the last four seasons. That includes appearing in 42 games with Boston during the 2024-25 season and 32 with the Hawks and Warriors last season.
Porziņģis' career high in games played (72) came during his rookie season with the New York Knicks over a decade ago. With Porziņģis out to start training camp, it is an immediate blow to Golden State's frontcourt depth that could be relying on rookie Yaxel Lendeborg even more than anticipated. Lendeborg, the No. 11 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft out of Michigan, was the oldest player drafted in the first round and is heralded as one of the most NBA-ready rookies due to his physical style of play.
At Michigan, Lendeborg emerged as one of the best players in college basketball and led the Wolverines to the national title. He was equally impressive earlier this summer in Las Vegas during summer league and helped the Warriors clinch their second summer league title after finishing with 21 points and 10 rebounds against the Grizzlies. Steve Kerr on rookie Yaxel Lendeborg: "He's clearly going to play a ton.
He gives us the size and the versatility that we need...Whether he's a starter or coming off the bench, that will be determined the next couple of weeks." The Warriors weren't active during the free agency and instead decided to run it back with essentially the same core that lost to the Phoenix Suns in the play-in. Golden State re-signed Porziņģis, Draymond Green, Al Horford, De'Anthony Melton, Gary Payton II, and recently inked Steph Curry to a two-year contract extension. Jimmy Butler is expected to return late in the season after tearing his ACL last year.
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