Recently, the Golden State Warriors shook things up by trading Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for big man Kristaps Porzingis. The move officially ended the bizarre Kuminga saga in Golden State and gave the Warriors a stretch big who, when healthy, figures to check a lot of boxes for the team.
Recently, Porzingis got 100% real on the prospect of playing with future Hall of Famer Stephen Curry in Golden State.
“Oh, I've been a huge fan of Steph for a long time… Just watching him… He's unreal. To play alongside somebody like that would be really cool,” said Porzingis, per Joseph Dycus of the Mercury News on X, formerly Twitter.
In theory, Porzingis would seem to fill a lot of needs for Golden State. The Latvian center can defend the rim efficiently, stretch the floor out to near the halfcourt line, and also create his own offense via post-ups.
However, health has always been a major concern for “The Unicorn,” and that has continued into this year, with Porzingis missing the majority of Atlanta's games dating back to December. He is currently out of the lineup for Golden State due to an Achilles injury, although the team seems to think he will be back on the court sooner rather than later.
Meanwhile, the trade also got the Warriors out of the Jonathan Kuminga situation, as head coach Steve Kerr had pulled the former lottery pick from his rotation for the most part this season, despite the Warriors not exactly having an abundance of two-way wings on their roster.
It remains to be seen whether the Warriors' team chemistry will pick up as a result of not having the awkward Kuminga-Kerr situation hovering over the franchise.
In any case, the Warriors will next hit the floor on Monday evening at home against the Memphis Grizzlies.
