“Not With Team” Is a Deliberate Label
Golden State’s people have stopped hiding their doubts. According to ESPN, team sources keep expressing an extreme level of pessimism that Kristaps Porzingis will ever play for the Warriors again. The center has not returned to the facility since an early-October meeting with club officials and general manager Mike Dunleavy, after which the club said he would be around.
That did not hold. The team moved his official status from “general illness,” the wording used during his absences last season, to “not with team.” The change was purposeful: it can no longer be described as an excused absence.
no renewal
Free for 2 weeks.
A Contract With Several Uses
Porzingis’ deal is guaranteed for only $3 million next season, and his expiring $20 million salary could still help Golden State in a trade. Dunleavy has already tested the market, league sources told ESPN, though this is traditionally a quiet stretch. Front offices usually stay in fact-gathering mode until January and February, and the Warriors are showing patience.
If Porzingis agreed to give back a large share of his money in a buyout, the contract would look even better to a trade partner chasing financial relief.
The Hardball Option
His absence from the facility could also be read as a failure to render services, a point raised internally, sources said, and one that could be used to try to void the whole contract. That path would bring its own complications unless Porzingis announced a retirement and gave the money back voluntarily.
Meanwhile the Warriors have a thin frontcourt to manage. Draymond Green was left trying to box out the 7-foot-4 Zach Edey late in a recent loss to Memphis, with two-way center Graham Ike thrown into a starting role.
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