Warriors' $60 million star predicted to leave Golden State for Pelicans originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Golden State Warriors won’t be able to retain all of their key contributors this offseason.
Whether losing free agents, including their most valuable trade assets, in a deal for an organization-bolstering superstar, it’s safe to say the Dubs’ roster will look a bit different next season.
Pelican Debrief’s Chris Lambert believes that the Warriors’ 30-year-old star could leave Golden State for the New Orleans Pelicans after less than one season.
“With Zion Williamson expected to slot in at the Pelicans power forward spot next season, having a rim protector and floor spacer next to him would change everything," Lambert wrote Wednesday.
"Zion's two biggest weaknesses are his inability to space the floor and his poor defense. Bringing in Porzingis could address both problems."
Lambert’s free-agent scenario involving Porzingis and the Pelicans would be devastating for the Warriors, but not for the reason many think. Although Porzingis is a formidable stretch five who’s proven he can wreak havoc on both ends, he’s undoubtedly earned the ‘injury-prone’ label at this stage of his career.
Porzingis, who the Warriors acquired before the Feb. 5 trade deadline, experienced various injuries with the Dubs during the second half of the year and was in-and-out of the organization’s lineup.
It would be understandable for Golden State to want to part ways with the former New York Knicks star, but the seven-time NBA champions wouldn’t want to let him walk for nothing in return.
In an ideal world, the Warriors would re-sign Porzingis before including him in a trade for a textbook win-now piece. In Lambert’s offseason FA idea, the Dubs would come away empty-handed, which would make the Kristaps Porzingis experiment in the Bay a colossal failure.
It’ll be interesting to see what Golden State elects to do with the 2018 All-Star this offseason.
More NBA news:
• Lakers get encouraging Kevin Durant trade news during playoffs
• Warriors predicted to land $101 million Lakers superstar to help Stephen Curry win fifth title
• Celtics sign 26-year-old ex-Raptors history-making guard to help Jaylen Brown in playoffs
