Draymond Green has a simple message for anyone waiting on a concrete timetable for Kristaps Porziņģis: there does not appear to be one.
The Golden State Warriors big man has been away from the team while dealing with an undisclosed health issue, and Green said the repeated questions about when Porziņģis will return are unlikely to produce a different answer anytime soon.
“There’s been a lot of questions about Porziņģis. ‘When is he coming back? Have you spoke to him?’” Green said. “No matter how many times people ask, ‘When is he coming back?’ I don’t think the answer is changing.”
Golden State announced in late September that Porziņģis would be out indefinitely because of the health issue and would not travel with the team for training camp in Hawaii. General manager Mike Dunleavy said at the time that there was no return timeline, although he stopped short of describing the situation as a long-term concern.
The uncertainty has continued into the preseason. Porziņģis has not been around the team publicly, and Steve Kerr has acknowledged that the Warriors themselves have limited information about exactly when he will be ready to return.
Green suggested that fans should not expect a gradual series of updates leading to a specific return date.
“I don’t think it will be like, ‘Oh, he’s back in a week,’” Green said. “He will probably come back and then it will be like, ‘Oh, y’all know he came back.’”
That makes this situation different from a conventional basketball injury with a predictable rehabilitation schedule. The Warriors have publicly described Porziņģis’ absence only as a health issue, and there has been no announcement tying this current absence to a specific diagnosis.
Porziņģis has dealt with significant health complications before, including postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, or POTS, which affected him during the previous season. But without confirmation from the Warriors, it would be inaccurate to assume that condition is the cause of his current absence.
Green made that uncertainty clear while also sending support to his teammate.
“I don’t think it’s necessarily a timeline of return,” he said. “So I think people will continue to ask this question for weeks on end and the answer is going to be the same.” He then added that he is “definitely sending well wishes to Porziņģis and praying for him as he tries to recover from whatever it is that he’s dealing with.”
Draymond on the Porzingis situation:
“There’s been a lot of questions about Porzingis. ‘When is he coming back? Have you spoke to him?’ All of these questions and the answer is, no matter how many times people ask ‘When is he coming back?’ I don’t think the answer is changing. I think when Porzingis is back, everyone will know, like we will know it. I don’t think it will be like, ‘Oh, he’s back in a week’ . . . He will probably come back and then it will be like, ‘Oh, y’all know he came back’ like we know he can. I think that happens at the same time. I don’t think it’s necessarily a timeline of return. So I think people will continue to ask this question for weeks on end and the answer is going to be the same and so I don’t think it’s the reason to keep asking the question, but needless to say, definitely sending well wishes to Porzingis and praying for him as he tries to recover from whatever it is that he’s dealing with.”
— Chef (@CurryForGame) October 10, 2026
For Golden State, Porziņģis’ absence matters considerably. The Warriors brought him back on a two-year, $40 million deal and expected his size, shooting and interior presence to play an important role this season. His continued absence has already forced Kerr to experiment with different frontcourt combinations during the preseason.
