Advertisement<\/p>\n
The Warriors superstar guard has dealt with injuries, including a case of runner\u2019s knee due to overexposure this season as a result of having to carry the team\u2019s offense, a problem that has only compounded since Jimmy Butler<\/a> went down with an ACL injury last month. Porzingis, if healthy, can take a lot of pressure off him.<\/p>\n \u201cI think (Porzingis being) out there, it\u2019s just going to give us a lot of size and a lot of mismatches that we need,\u201d Melton continued. \u201cSome teams he\u2019s gonna kill just cause they can\u2019t physically match up with him.\u201d<\/p>\n The Warriors made it clear when they traded for him that Rick Celebrini, the director of sports medicine for the Warriors, had looked over Porzingis already, and was confident that he would be able to play for the team. His chance to debut in a Golden State uniform will come against the Boston Celtics later this week<\/a>.<\/p>\n Why Kristaps Porzingis\u2019 Size Could Change Golden State\u2019s Ceiling Around Stephen Curry<\/p>\n Kristaps Porzingis<\/a> is recognized by many as the originator of the \u201cunicorn\u201d mold before the term became mainstream. At a towering 7\u20192\u2033, he can space the floor, shoot over contests, and punish any switch harshly with his post game. Against smaller defenders, he can operate from the low block or the elbow, go to the perimeter against slower centers, or simply take isolation possessions.<\/p>\n November 24, 2023; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) dribbles the basketball against San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (1) during the fourth quarter at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n In the Golden State offense, which relies on motion around Stephen Curry<\/a>\u2018s perimeter gravity, an inside-scoring mismatch-hunter like Porzingis can be devastating for opposing defenses.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n The Wembanyama comparison isn\u2019t just about identical games, but the stress Porzingis can put on the defense. No traditional coverage can account for a 7-footer who can move fluidly while also being an above average shooter. If he can stay healthy and gel with the team\u2019s system, the Warriors<\/a> have a size advantage that they\u2019ve never possessed during Curry\u2019s tenure with the team.<\/p>\n In a Western Conference where the margin for error is razor thin, Kristaps Porzingis could be the difference maker for the Warriors beyond just making the play-in tournament.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Golden State Warriors are entering the second half of the season, hoping to return to full strength…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":609792,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3797],"tags":[7,75,160,13375,164,313,871,4164,6,969,474,162,4075,4074,534,573,3209,8837,693],"class_list":{"0":"post-609791","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-antonio-spurs","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-boston-celtics","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-deanthony-melton","12":"tag-golden-state-warriors","13":"tag-jimmy-butler","14":"tag-kristaps-porzingis","15":"tag-mandatory-credit","16":"tag-nba","17":"tag-san-antonio","18":"tag-san-antonio-spurs","19":"tag-san-francisco","20":"tag-sanantonio","21":"tag-sanantoniospurs","22":"tag-spurs","23":"tag-stephen-curry","24":"tag-usa","25":"tag-usa-today-sports","26":"tag-victor-wembanyama"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116091972610608776","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=609791"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609791\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/609792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=609791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=609791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=609791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"November](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/107942e221e5c30c7433404af96d6997.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\n