The Golden State Warriors were pursuing Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo before the trade deadline, but ended up landing another European instead. The Warriors acquired Kristaps Porzingis from the Atlanta Hawks, and the Latvian revealed in his introductory press conference on Saturday that he didn’t know this was a move in the making.
“I had no idea,” Porzingis said. “It was a surprise and was late at night too, so right before sleep, so it was a surprise to me.”
Porzingis was excited when he got the news about the Warriors bringing him in for Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield. The 30-year-old is happy to be reunited with his former Boston Celtics teammate, Al Horford, and revealed he has always admired the fanbase. As for his fit with the team, Porzingis believes there shouldn’t be any issues there.
“I think it will be pretty natural,” Porzingis stated. “I think I always say that also because I feel like I’m the type of player that can fit into any kind of offense. So, I expect it to be pretty smooth. We’ll see. Of course, it takes a little bit of time to get adjusted to everybody. To get used to how I like to play and where I like to get the ball, but I think these guys are very experienced.
“They’ve played at the high level for a long time, so I believe it’ll be easy, and I’ll also be able to learn from them,” Porzingis added.
Porzingis averaged 17.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 0.5 steals, and 1.3 blocks per game for the Hawks in 2025-26 while shooting 36.0% from beyond the arc. The one-time All-Star is an excellent rim protector and is a great shooter for a man who stands at 7’2″.
The concern when it comes to Porzingis is health, as he has only played in 17 games this season. He has been dealing with an illness (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome) for quite some time now and, more recently, left Achilles tendinitis.
Porzingis last played for the Hawks in a 117-100 win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Jan. 7. He confirmed here that he is targeting the Warriors’ first game after the All-Star break as his debut and joked he’d play all 48 minutes right away.
“We’ll see what the medical staff [say],” Porzingis said. “What they think for me. But yeah, as I said, I want to like hit the ground running.”
As things stand, Porzingis’ Warriors debut will be against the Celtics on Feb. 19 at Chase Center. It’s the team he won the 2024 NBA championship with.
The Warriors and Porzingis would be hoping they can win one together as well, but it does seem unlikely they’ll go all the way this season. Draymond Green loves the fit and claims he was the missing piece for the Celtics, but with Jimmy Butler tearing his ACL, this team is going nowhere this season. They are currently eighth in the West with a 28-24 record.
As for next season, it’s unclear whether Porzingis will even be with the Warriors. He is set to hit free agency in the summer, but isn’t thinking too far into the future at the moment.
“I just want to finish the year strong,” Porzingis said. “It’s been already a little bit up and down this season playing out. I just want to finish the year really strong on a new team, new chapter, and see where I go from there.”
It has been a chaotic last year or so for Porzingis with the trades and the illness. It will be fascinating to see how much of an impact he can make with his new team.
