Confirming that the Warriors are exploring the trade market in the hopes of making a deal involving Kristaps Porzingis, Sam Amick and Nick Friedell of The Athletic report that the Bucks are among the teams to have been contacted by Golden State.
Assuming the Warriors are seeking a center to replace Porzingis, big man Myles Turner would be the most likely target on Milwaukee’s roster. He has three years and $83.55MM remaining on his contract, so if the Bucks were interested in moving off of that long-term money, the idea of taking on Porzingis’ pseudo-expiring deal could hold some appeal, even if the Latvian’s health remains a question mark.
Turner’s cap hit for 2026/27 is roughly $26.58MM, while Porzingis is earning $20MM. The Warriors – who are operating over the first tax apron – can’t take back more salary than they send out in a trade, so they’d have to attach at least one more player to Porzingis in order to make a deal for Turner.
That could complicate matters, especially since several Warriors players are ineligible to be traded until at least December 15. It may be a moot point though, as Amick and Friedell say the Bucks aren’t believed to be interested in Porzingis.
As Anthony Slater of ESPN writes, given Porzingis’ uncertain health situation, the Warriors would likely have to include draft assets in a trade to extract real value for him. They do have several tradable first-round picks available — Golden State’s 2030 first-rounder, which will be sent to Memphis if it lands outside the top 20, is the only one the team doesn’t fully control.
If the Warriors are willing to take on long-term money, it could help grease the wheels for a potential deal, but even in that scenario, most teams are still in evaluation mode and aren’t looking to shake up their rosters this early in the season, Slater notes.
For instance, while Jakob Poeltl’s four-year, $103.6MM contract is viewed as a negative asset, the Raptors may still not be inclined to trade Poeltl in a deal for Porzingis, given that they hope to contend in the short term and the veteran center is a crucial part of their frontcourt rotation. A team without championship aspirations this season, like Milwaukee, would be better equipped to take a flier on Porzingis.
According to Slater, Porzingis was in the Warriors’ practice facility and was on the court in the weeks leading up to training camp and attended a September mini-camp organized by Jimmy Butler in San Diego. However, team sources who spoke to ESPN described Porzingis as “indifferent and uninterested in participating in scrimmages and strenuous on-court prep work” at that get-together.
Porzingis, who said a year ago that he was dealing with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), called general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. on the Sunday before training camp to tell the team that he was still battling a health issue and would be taking an indefinite leave of absence, per Slater.