Kristaps Porzingis is headed back to the Western Conference.
The Golden State Warriors have acquired the former NBA All-Star big man Porzingis in a trade with the Atlanta Hawks, Shams Charania of ESPN reported late Wednesday night. Porzingis is headed to the Warriors in exchange for Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield.
Also a 2024 NBA champion with the Boston Celtics, Porzingis, 30, had been in his first season with the Hawks. He only managed to appear in 17 total games for Atlanta though due to a bout with yet another mystery illness.
When healthy, Porzingis averaged 17.1 points and 5.1 rebounds per game for the Hawks this year. But he has not appeared in a single contest since Jan. 7 because of his illness, which is a particularly troubling sign given that Porzingis already battled an unusual “POTS” illness last season while he was a member of the Boston Celtics.
That said, the swing is worth taking for the Warriors. Kuminga, 23, had long been disgruntled in Golden State and now gets a chance to be a potential core piece for the rebuilding Hawks. Meanwhile, Hield, 33, had not really been much of a factor this season for the Warriors and was averaging a career-low 8.0 points per game.
Porzingis is currently in the final season of his contract at $30.7 million. In acquiring him via trade, the Warriors will now be able to pay Porzingis the most money in free agency this summer. However, the short-term move for the 7-foot-2 big man probably takes Golden State out of the Giannis Antetokounmpo trade deadline sweepstakes (since Kuminga had featured heavily in the Warriors’ reported trade offer for Antetokounmpo).
