With the NBA trade deadline closing on Thursday afternoon, teams around the league are scrambling to make any moves that could help improve their roster for the remainder of the season. This was certainly the case for the Golden State Warriors, who, after being included in rumors for several months at this point, finally pulled the trigger on a move.
As reported by ESPN’s Shams Charania, the Warriors sent Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for Kristaps Porzingis.
The move makes sense for the Warriors, as they gave in to the demands made by Kuminga, who publicly wanted out of the Chase Center, while also landing them a center. It’s been a while since Golden State has had a true big man in their front court, having opted for more smaller lineups in the last few seasons.
However, the Warriors may have to wait to see their new star in action as Porzingis hasn’t appeared in a match since early January due to Achilles tendinitis. This has halted a season in which the Latvian averaged 17.1 points and 5.1 rebounds per game.
But this isn’t stopping the Warriors from being optimistic about things, according to ESPN’s Anthony Slater, who explained that Golden State is planning on getting the Latvian healthy and making a push.
“The Warriors hope to get Porzingis back healthy and productive for the stretch run,” writes Slater. “He hasn’t played since Jan. 7, but team sources said they anticipate Porzingis will make his return soon after joining Golden State.”
If the former Champion returns soon, it’ll come as a certain boost for the Warriors, who have struggled as of late, posting a record of 5-5 across their last ten games. Some of this has to do with the injury bug ravaging them at the moment, with Jimmy Butler, Stephen Curry, and the aforementioned Kuminga all out for varying periods of time.
Given that the second half of the season is getting ready to begin, and the Warriors are currently occupying the eighth spot in the Western Conference, it’d be important for Porzingis to hit the ground running in his new home.
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