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The TakeNov 4, 2026·By The Dyme

Kristaps Porzingis's $20 Million Salary Is Being Withheld by the Warriors After 8 Missed Games, ESPN Reports

ESPN's Shams Charania and Anthony Slater reported the Warriors are withholding payments, determining he is not rendering services. Porzingis has missed all eight games, and his contract stays tradable before the Feb. 11 deadline.

Dyme card with the headline: Kristaps Porzingis's $20 Million Salary Is Being Withheld by the Warriors After 8 Missed Games, ESPN Reports

The Golden State Warriors are withholding payments to Kristaps Porzingis on his $20 million salary for 2026-27, determining that he is not rendering services, ESPN's Shams Charania and Anthony Slater reported Wednesday. Porzingis has missed all eight of Golden State's games, and the team can still trade his contract at any point before the Feb. 11 deadline, even while it is withholding payments.

Why the Warriors Are Withholding Porzingis's Pay

Porzingis told the front office about a health issue the day before training camp and has not been with the team since, according to the San Francisco Standard. On Oct. 14 the Warriors said he had met with general manager Mike Dunleavy and Rick Celebrini. A week later the team said it was "not anticipating Kristaps being around the team in the immediate future."

ESPN has reported that Porzingis is seriously contemplating his future in basketball while dealing with recurring symptoms of POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome). On the Oct. 28 injury report, his status moved from "general illness" to "not with team," per Sports Legal Audit. The ESPN report, as relayed by Eurohoops and RealGM, said the 31-year-old is leaning toward ending his NBA career.

What the NBA Contract Allows

Every NBA player signs the same Uniform Player Contract. It lets a team withhold pay from a player who is not rendering services, at 1/91.6 of his salary for each game missed. On $20 million, that is $218,341 a game, per Sports Legal Audit's reading of the contract.

The same contract says a team cannot suspend a player "solely because the Player is injured or ill." If the players' union files a grievance, a neutral arbitrator decides, and the withheld money sits in an interest-bearing account until then.

The last two times a team tried this, there was no ruling at the end. Philadelphia withheld about $20 million from Ben Simmons during the 2021-22 season, he filed a grievance in April 2022, and it settled privately that August. Miami suspended Jimmy Butler in January 2025 for "intentionally withholding services" at $532,737 a game, the same 1/91.6 rate. Both ended in deals.

Porzingis Salary Withheld: The Money, by Our Count

At $218,341 a game, the eight games Golden State has already played come to about $1.75 million. The reports do not say from what date the team is counting, so treat that as the ceiling on what has piled up so far, not a figure the team has confirmed.

The Warriors have 45 games left before the Feb. 11 deadline, by our count from the ESPN schedule. At the same rate, that is about $9.8 million. A full 82 games at 1/91.6 a game covers about $17.9 million of the $20 million.

The Warriors are about $20.4 million over the luxury tax and roughly $300,000 under the second apron, which they cannot cross, according to the Standard. His cap number stays on the books while he is under contract.

Porzingis Trade Deadline and Contract

Porzingis signed a two-year, $40 million extension in June. Only $3 million of the second year is guaranteed, per Hoops Rumors, so to another team he looks like an expiring deal. Per ESPN, the extension was designed with no raise so he would be trade-eligible right away. Even with him out, the contract is a $20 million salary that can be matched in a trade.

Per ESPN, a team that takes him on could send out salary and then work toward a buyout with Porzingis, saving money and opening a roster spot. The Athletic has reported Golden State already called Milwaukee.

Porzingis last played on April 15, and a team has to wait a full year after a player's last game to ask the league for a career-ending medical ruling, per the Standard. That puts the earliest petition in April 2027, two months after the deadline.

Warriors Frontcourt Without Porzingis

Without Porzingis, Golden State's centers are Draymond Green, 36, and Al Horford, 40, with Charles Bassey and two-way big Graham Ike filling in. The Warriors started 0-3 and have won five straight to get to 5-3, per ESPN, with Stephen Curry scoring 44 at Minnesota and Yaxel Lendeborg leading the team in scoring three times.

Porzingis averaged 16.1 points in 15 games for Golden State last season, playing 15 of the final 20, and he has missed 90 games over the past two seasons, per Sports Legal Audit.

The next game is Thursday at home against Miami, 10 p.m. ET.

Sources:

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