Payments stopped, contract still alive
The Golden State Warriors are no longer delivering semimonthly payments to Kristaps Porzingis on his $20 million salary. They have ruled that the center is not rendering services to the team, according to Shams Charania and Anthony Slater, with ESPN reporting the same this afternoon.
Porzingis is not disputing it, league sources told ESPN. The Warriors have no current plans to void the deal. That keeps them free to trade it at any point before the February 11 deadline, even while he goes unpaid. Bobby Marks put a price on the standoff: each missed game costs Porzingis $218,341, one 91.6th of his salary, while the full $20 million still counts against Golden State’s cap, tax and apron figures.
no renewal
Free for 2 weeks.
How it got here
Porzingis, 31, signed a two-year, $40 million extension this summer after two seasons of health problems. Only $3 million of the second year is guaranteed. On the eve of training camp he called general manager Mike Dunleavy and stepped away. After an early October meeting with Dunleavy and medical chief Rick Celebrini, the team announced he would be around. He left the facility again and has not returned, and the club changed his status from “general illness” to “not with team.”
Both reports say he is leaning toward ending his career. Dunleavy’s front office is still working the trade market. A rival that absorbs a near-expiring salary could send out longer money and clear a roster spot through a buyout, or ask for a draft asset in return.
Marc Stein reports the Warriors have called Chicago about Jalen Smith, who makes $9.4 million in the last year of a three-year, $27 million deal. Milwaukee’s Myles Turner, at $26 million through 2028-29, is not high on their list.
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