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October 14, 2026
The roster

Porzingis is out indefinitely, and Bassey started when Green and Horford sat

The club set no timeline for practice, a week before the opener at the Lakers. The center minutes belong to Draymond Green, Al Horford and Charles Bassey, and on Tuesday in Las Vegas Bassey had them to himself.

CE
Cam EllisOct 14, 20264 min read
Every call on this site goes on a public ledger and gets graded. The misses stay up.
Kristaps Porzingis in a studio headshot, wearing the Warriors' white home jersey with blue trim, against a plain white background.

The Warriors said Wednesday that Kristaps Porzingis will remain out indefinitely, a week before the season opens at the Lakers, and that he will spend that time around the team.

"Porzingis will remain out indefinitely due to the same health-related matter but will be around the team," the club's statement read. It said he returned to the practice facility on Tuesday and met with general manager Mike Dunleavy and Dr. Rick Celebrini, the vice president of player health and performance, and that "the specific contents of that meeting will remain private." An update on "the potential resumption of practice, playing status or timeline" will come "when available and appropriate," the club said.

He is not cleared to practice, Anthony Slater of ESPN reported. Porzingis wrote on X that he is "working with doctors and experts to figure out how to be fully back to good health," as quoted by ESPN, and added, "Honestly, I'm getting better and better. I just have to stay patient, and I believe I'll be feeling great again soon."

The club and the player have said nothing beyond that. The statement sets no date for practice and none for a game, so the rotation Kerr is building for October 21 is a rotation without him.

The plan already assumed it#

Kerr's leaning starting five, Stephen Curry, Brandin Podziemski, Gui Santos, Yaxel Lendeborg and Draymond Green, is the smaller lineup ESPN described as the one he favors in Porzingis' absence. Al Horford comes off the bench in that plan, at about 20 minutes a night. What Wednesday changes is how long the plan runs. At media day on September 28, Dunleavy declined to rule Porzingis out for the opener, NBA.com reported. The statement gives no date at all.

Porzingis played 15 games for Golden State after the February trade that brought him from Atlanta, 11 of them as a starter, by NBA.com's count. Without him, the center minutes fall on Green, who is 36, Horford, who is 40, and Bassey, with Graham Ike behind them.

Tuesday, without Green or Horford#

Bassey had the job to himself in Las Vegas on Tuesday. ESPN's injury report listed Green and Horford as resting, and Kerr started Bassey at center beside the other four from his leaning five.

Tuesday at the Lakers, Las VegasMinutesPointsReboundsBlocksPlus-minus
Charles Bassey278123+11
Graham Ike12630+7

From ESPN's box score of Golden State's 101-89 win.

Bassey played 8:09 in Saturday's game against Sacramento, all of it at the end. Tuesday he played more than three times that, started, and led the team in rebounds. Ike, the two-way center who did not play Saturday, was back in the rotation.

One preseason game against a Lakers team without Luka Doncic settles nothing about October. It does show the order Kerr reached for with both veterans out. Bassey started and played the most minutes of any Warrior, and Ike came in behind him.

The first week#

Portland visits Chase Center on Friday for the last preseason game. The opener is at the Lakers on October 21. Memphis comes to Chase Center on October 23, and Golden State plays at Phoenix the next night, the first back-to-back of the season, inside the first four days of it.

The contract, as far as it bears on the roster#

Golden State re-signed Porzingis this summer to a two-year, $40 million deal, ESPN reported, structured so the club could trade him at any point and limit its long-term exposure, with only $3 million of the $20 million due next season guaranteed. That structure bears on next summer. It does not change the opening week, in which he is on the roster and out indefinitely, and the center minutes are Green's, Horford's and Bassey's.

Sources: Golden State Warriors, "Warriors Statement on Kristaps Porzingis," warriors.com, October 14, 2026, for the statement's text, the Tuesday meeting and the missed camp and preseason games; Anthony Slater, ESPN, October 14, 2026, for Porzingis's X post as quoted, his practice status, the contract terms and their structure, and Kerr's leaning lineup in Porzingis's absence; ESPN's box score and injury report for Golden State at the Lakers, October 13, 2026, in Las Vegas; NBA.com, September 28, 2026, for Porzingis's Golden State games and starts last season and Dunleavy at media day; NBA.com box score and substitution log for October 10, 2026, against Sacramento; Dalton Johnson, NBC Sports Bay Area, October 12, 2026, for Kerr on Horford's minutes and the starting five; ESPN's Warriors schedule for the preseason and regular-season dates; ESPN's athlete pages for the ages.

Filed under Warriors

More on Charles Bassey

His page →
Kerr wants Green or Horford out there as often as possible. Saturday it was 37 of 48
The rotation

Kerr wants Green or Horford out there as often as possible. Saturday it was 37 of 48

Steve Kerr said after Monday's practice that he is leaning toward starting Stephen Curry, Brandin Podziemski, Gui Santos, Yaxel Lendeborg and Draymond Green on October 21, with Al Horford off the bench, as reported by Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports Bay Area. His reason was Horford's minutes: about 20 a game is the limit, and he wants Green or Horford on the floor as often as possible to anchor the defense. Saturday against Sacramento was the only preseason game Horford has played as a reserve. By NBA.com's substitution log, Green or Horford was on the floor for 37:32 of 48 minutes, both for 6:10, and neither for 10:28, of which Charles Bassey covered the last 8:09. Horford averaged 21.6 minutes across 45 games last season by ESPN's game log, 20.0 across the first 30, and did not play both nights of any of Golden State's 16 back-to-backs. The second and third games of the season are a back-to-back. Kristaps Porzingis is expected at Chase Center on Tuesday to meet the performance staff, and Kerr could not say whether he will be available for the opener. Horford is not traveling to Tuesday's game in Las Vegas, which Kerr called planned maintenance.

Cam EllisOct 13, 20265 min read
Kerr sat three starters at halftime and kept Yaxel Lendeborg on the floor
Preseason

Kerr sat three starters at halftime and kept Yaxel Lendeborg on the floor

Golden State lost its preseason opener to the Clippers, 104-101, in Honolulu on Sunday, October 4. The five Steve Kerr named on October 1, Stephen Curry, Brandin Podziemski, Yaxel Lendeborg, Draymond Green and Al Horford, started and played three minutes and 14 seconds together before the first substitution, per the NBA's play-by-play. Curry, Green and Horford played the first half only, at 12:58, 13:52 and 15:42. Lendeborg played 18:44, the most minutes of the 18 Warriors who appeared, and started the second half with Podziemski, De'Anthony Melton, Gui Santos and Charles Bassey. He had four points on 1-of-6 shooting, a game-high nine rebounds and three assists. Kerr said afterward that Lendeborg was good and needs to be more aggressive. When Kerr named the five, he said he did not know whether it would start on opening night, and the reason he gave was Horford's age and minutes. Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody did not play. Five preseason games remain before the October 21 opener at the Lakers.

Cam EllisOct 5, 20264 min read
The Warriors have one center who shoots threes, one night at a time
Training camp

The Warriors have one center who shoots threes, one night at a time

Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy said at media day on Monday, September 28, that Kristaps Porzingis is out indefinitely with a health issue the club learned of on Sunday, and that he will not travel to training camp at BYU-Hawaii. The club gave no timeline and did not describe the issue. Steve Kerr said the same day that Golden State is 'playing a more modern brand of basketball now, five-out.' Basketball Reference lists three centers on the roster. Porzingis took 74 threes in 356 minutes for Golden State last season; Al Horford took 205 in 969; Charles Bassey has taken 13 in 1,410 career minutes. Horford, 40, did not play on consecutive days last season: of Golden State's 16 back-to-backs he played one night 12 times and neither night four times, per his game logs at Basketball Reference and ESPN. Golden State's first back-to-back of 2026-27 is Memphis at Chase Center on October 23 and Phoenix on the road on October 24. Butler and Moody traveled to Hawaii with no return timeline.

Grant LombardSep 29, 20264 min read

More on Stephen Curry

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Kerr told fans to check the schedule before buying Curry tickets. Here it is.
Preseason

Kerr told fans to check the schedule before buying Curry tickets. Here it is.

Steve Kerr said after practice on Thursday, October 15, that the Warriors do not play Stephen Curry in back-to-backs and asked fans to be mindful of the schedule when buying tickets, per Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area. The league has dated 80 of Golden State's 82 regular-season games, and those 80 include 15 back-to-backs by the schedules on ESPN and Basketball Reference, which agree date for date. Six end at Chase Center: Phoenix on November 2, Detroit on January 7, Charlotte on January 13, Milwaukee on January 22, Memphis on March 17 and Toronto on March 25. All six follow a home game the night before. Kerr announced a back-to-back limit for Curry once before, in January 2025. In 2025-26 the Warriors played 16 back-to-backs and Curry played both nights of five of them, the last on January 19 and 20.

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Podziemski got his $110 million, and Golden State kept most of next summer
The extension

Podziemski got his $110 million, and Golden State kept most of next summer

Brandin Podziemski and the Golden State Warriors agreed on October 10 to a five-year, $110 million rookie-scale extension, his agent Bill Duffy told Shams Charania of ESPN. The deal is fully guaranteed, carries a trade kicker and ends in a 2031-32 mutual option that, per ESPN, either side can opt into but not out of. Podziemski makes $5.6 million this season and $18.9 million in 2027-28, with maximum 8 percent raises to a $25 million option year. ESPN reports that keeping the first-year salary low was a priority for the Warriors, because his projected cap hold next summer was about $17 million, so the extension costs about $1.9 million of 2027 room. Bobby Marks of ESPN says Golden State could still have $55 million to $60 million in space, counting a release of Kristaps Porzingis, who has $3 million of his $20 million 2027-28 salary guaranteed. Podziemski, 23 and the 19th pick in 2023, played all 82 games last season and starts at shooting guard next to Stephen Curry.

Grant LombardOct 10, 20264 min read
Al Horford is headed back to the bench he sat on for 32 games last season
Preseason

Al Horford is headed back to the bench he sat on for 32 games last season

Steve Kerr moved Al Horford out of Golden State's starting lineup before Tuesday's preseason game against the Lakers and said Horford will most likely come off the bench when the regular season starts, as reported by Anthony Slater of ESPN and Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports Bay Area. Gui Santos replaced him, Draymond Green moved to center and Yaxel Lendeborg to power forward. Horford then did not play at all: Luca Evans of the San Francisco Chronicle reported, citing a team source, that he was scratched with a left knee contusion as a largely precautionary measure, and Slater reported he will not travel to Portland on Wednesday. The new five of Stephen Curry, Brandin Podziemski, Santos, Lendeborg and Green played 4:54 together at the start of the game and outscored the Lakers 23-13 in that stretch, per ESPN's play-by-play. Golden State won 124-98 against a Lakers team on the second night of a back-to-back that did not play Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves or Walker Kessler. Horford started 13 of his 45 games for Golden State in 2025-26 and played more than 25 minutes in 14 of them. Kristaps Porzingis remains away from the team with what general manager Mike Dunleavy has called a health issue.

Grant LombardOct 7, 20264 min read

On the record

Called Shots →
OpenAug 10, 2026

Golden State's apron-basis team salary is still above the first apron of $209,015,000 on opening night of the 2026-27 season.

This is the behavioural half of my own argument and it is the part that can be wrong. The legal analysis is not a prediction: while the Warriors sit at $216,439,590 in apron allocations, the mid-level, the bi-annual and the Jackson-Davis trade exception are all barred, and that follows from published rules rather than from my judgment. What is a judgment is that the club leaves it that way. NOTE REWRITTEN 2026-08-10 by Cam Ellis, claim and resolve_by unchanged: the original note named the routes out as Moses Moody's $12,500,000 or two of Al Horford, Yaxel Lendeborg, De'Anthony Melton and Brandin Podziemski, and that list was built off a roster read that omitted Kristaps Porzingis. Porzingis is on this roster at $20,000,000, his contract is inside the $216,439,590, and he is trade-eligible through the offseason because his June 30 extension does not exceed the extend-and-trade limits, so he is the largest movable route under the apron rather than an absent one. The list was also missing the calendar: Bassey, Draymond Green, Horford, Melton and Payton II cannot be traded until December 15, which is five of the thirteen standard contracts and two of the four mid-sized salaries the original note leaned on. So the call is now made against a wider set of legal routes than I first counted, which makes it a harder call rather than an easier one. I am still calling that Golden State does not pay a rotation player to unlock an exception that would immediately hard-cap it at the line it just crossed under. Scoreable against any published opening-night cap sheet on the apron basis, which is the basis that includes likely incentives. If they get under, I am wrong, and the whole piece was describing a temporary condition rather than the season's shape.

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Steve Kerr made turnovers the subject of Monday's film session after counting about 90 through four preseason games; the box scores give 84. Through five games Golden State has 104, 20.8 a game, against 115 by its opponents. Last October the club had 110 in five exhibitions, then averaged 16.4 across its first five regular-season games and 15.7 across 82, team turnovers included, by ESPN's box scores. This fall the offense is new, which Kerr cited for holding off. Among the five Kerr is leaning toward for October 21, Gui Santos has 11 turnovers in 86 minutes across four games, after five in 71 minutes in last year's preseason and 1.5 a game last season. Podziemski has five, down from 14 last October, and Green three, down from 14. Kerr described Santos's place in that lineup as size and playmaking. Portland visits Chase Center on Friday for the last exhibition; Yaxel Lendeborg rolled his left ankle Tuesday and returned.

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Steve Kerr told the Tom Tolbert Show on Friday that Golden State tried to get younger this offseason and could not, that nothing offered to the club made sense to him, and that depth is now the answer. He said the back end of the roster, including the two-way players, has to hold the fort until Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody return in the second half. Golden State's published schedule lists 80 regular-season games with dates, and 47 of them fall before February. The men Kerr named already carried the largest share of last season's minutes: Brandin Podziemski led the team at 2,333, and Gui Santos and Will Richard were fourth and fifth. Stephen Curry was sixth and Butler eighth. That arrangement produced 37 wins and 45 losses. Butler turns 37 on September 14 and is listed OUT. Two takes filed, on minutes and on Richard's starts.

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