Two weeks of pre-season preparation have unfolded for the Golden State Warriors without Kristaps Porzingis in the mix. On Monday, head coach Steve Kerr told reporters the player — who is 31 — was anticipated to be back at the facility by Tuesday.
A consultation between Porzingis and Warriors sports medicine and performance director Rick Celebrini is set to chart the path forward in his rehabilitation. No timeline has been set by Golden State for Porzingis's return to the floor.
Those accounts questioning Porzingis's availability and contact with the team had surfaced only a short time before this latest turn of events. The San Francisco Standard reported that the Warriors had no firm answers on where the player was, what had put him out of action, or when he might be back on the floor.
Direct communication between Kerr and Porzingis had taken place via messages, with team medical staff also maintaining contact, yet whether Porzingis would be available remained an open question for the organisation.
Kept away from both the early training-camp sessions and Golden State's preseason schedule, Porzingis has been managing a health matter whose details have not been made public. On September 28, a public statement from general manager Mike Dunleavy placed the veteran center on the indefinite injured list. Dunleavy held out hope that Porzingis would make his way back to the roster at some point, though no timeline for that return was available.
Kerr had already been in contact with the former All-Star through text messages, and Celebrini was also in touch with him as the organisation kept tabs on his status.
A two-year deal worth $40 million brought the 7-foot-2 center into the Golden State fold, with his ability to shoot from the perimeter, score, and protect the rim seen as tools that could address the frontcourt's uneven run of form. Porzingis, provided he stays fit, brings a playing style that lines up naturally alongside what both Stephen Curry and Draymond Green do on the floor.
Over the course of the 2025-26 regular season, Porzingis took the floor in 32 contests, putting up per-game averages of 16.7 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks. A trade finalised at the February deadline brought him to Golden State from Atlanta, with Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield heading to the Hawks as part of the arrangement.
Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome — the autonomic condition Porzingis has spoken about publicly — remains unconfirmed by the Warriors as a factor in his most recent time away from the team.
Setbacks for Butler and Moody on the injury front have put Golden State's readiness for the upcoming contest under some strain. Four players along Golden State's frontcourt depth chart — Al Horford, Draymond Green, Charles Bassey, and rookie Yaxel Lendeborg — have each drawn consideration from the organisation as potential roster fits.
Their regular-season schedule gets underway on October 21, when Golden State takes the floor against Los Angeles.
