Kristaps Porzingis not getting paid by Warriors
The Warriors are withholding Porzingis' $20 million salary over his absence, even as both sides keep eyeing a trade before the February deadline.
Why Kristaps Porzingis is trending
Kristaps Porzingis is not getting paid by the Warriors right now, and that is public as of November 4. League sources told ESPN the team is skipping his semimonthly checks on a $20 million salary this season, because Golden State considers him not with the team and not rendering his services. He has been away from the Warriors the entire year, and the money has stopped along with him.
The 31-year-old center signed a two-year, $40 million extension with Golden State this past offseason, with only $3 million guaranteed for the second season. Then, on the eve of training camp, he called general manager Mike Dunleavy and stepped away from the team. The Warriors gave him room at first and expected him back around the facility, his teammates and the medical staff while he dealt with it. After a meeting in early October with Dunleavy and Rick Celebrini, the team's lead medical decision-maker, Golden State said publicly he would be around. That did not hold. Porzingis left the facility again and has not come back. The team changed his official listing from general illness, the label used during his absences a year ago, to not with team, a change sources say was made on purpose. It is no longer being treated as an excused absence.
The trade math behind the missing paychecks
Even while the checks stop, the Warriors front office is still working the phones on Porzingis' contract. Dunleavy and the staff are exploring trade avenues, sources say, even as Porzingis himself leans toward walking away from the NBA. For another team, absorbing his near-expiring salary could mean moving a longer contract off the books to save money and open a roster spot through a buyout, or it could net Golden State a draft asset, depending on what the Warriors attach to the deal.
The Warriors have no plans to void the contract, team sources say, which keeps every trade option open through the Feb. 11 deadline. According to ESPN's Bobby Marks, Porzingis is losing $218,341 for every game he sits out under this arrangement, and his full salary still counts against the cap and the tax apron regardless.
Porzingis isn't fighting the decision
Porzingis is not disputing the lack of payments, according to league sources. That is a notable detail on its own, since it suggests this is not heading toward a grievance or an arbitration fight, at least not yet. The Miami Heat ran a similar play last season with guard Terry Rozier, withholding his pay while he was under federal investigation in a gambling scandal, and still spent the months before the deadline shopping his contract around the league.
What comes next for Golden State
League insider Jake Fischer reports the Warriors know real trade interest is unlikely to show up right away. Golden State's hope, per Fischer's sources, is to repeat what happened two seasons ago, when a season-ending injury to De'Anthony Melton turned into a trade for Dennis Schroder, who was later flipped for Jimmy Butler III. The plan with Porzingis would be to add a serviceable frontcourt piece on an expiring deal, ideally by Dec. 16, so that player could be bundled into another trade before the Feb. 11 deadline.
Whatever happens with the money and the roster math, the Warriors have not needed Porzingis to find a groove. Golden State opened the season 0-3 and has won five straight games since, all without him in the building.
Facts per ESPN, Bleacher Report. Opinion is the taproom's.