Steve Kerr Gives Brief Update on Kristaps Porzingis’ Status With Warriors

After missing all of training camp with a health issue nobody has explained in public, big man Kristaps Porzingis finally has a next step on the calendar.

Head coach Steve Kerr told reporters on Monday that Porzingis would be at Chase Center on Tuesday to meet with director of performance Rick Celebrini and the rest of the medical staff so they could see where he is at physically.

Kerr gave no timeline, and the team still has not said what the issue is.

That meeting was the only real news Kerr had to give.

When Luca Evans of the San Francisco Chronicle, who shared the update on Monday, later asked whether Porzingis had spent the last week in the Bay Area or out of the country, the coach said he had no comment.

The Warriors have handled his health the same way since camp opened, keeping nearly every detail away from the public.

Kerr said on Friday there was nothing new to report and that he had only been in touch with Porzingis by text.

At the start of camp, Kerr tried to stay patient and treated the absence as a short one, but with no news since then, that view is getting harder to buy.

In early February, Golden State landed Porzingis in a trade that sent forward Jonathan Kuminga and guard Buddy Hield to Atlanta.

He appeared in only 15 games after the move, putting up 16.1 points and 5.3 rebounds per game, yet the front office still handed him a two-year, $40 million extension in June that includes a player option for the second season.

Health has been a problem for two straight years now, as he played 42 games with Boston the season before last and just 32 games split between Atlanta and Golden State last season while he dealt with a mysterious illness and Achilles tendinitis.

I would put more stock in Tuesday's sit-down with Celebrini than in anything else from his preseason, because it is the first time the staff can meet with him in person and build a plan.

Even a rough timeline would help, since concern has been growing around his health and the regular season is close.

Golden State still has a preseason game against the Lakers in Las Vegas on Tuesday night and a home date with Portland on Friday, and then it opens the season against the Lakers in Los Angeles on Wednesday, Oct. 21.

I would be surprised to see Porzingis in any of those games, and my guess is that he misses at least the first stretch of the year.

A long absence would stretch this roster thin, because forward Jimmy Butler is still working back from a torn ACL and has no set return date either, so losing a second big piece for a long time would hurt their depth badly.

Golden State paid real money to keep Porzingis around, and I would rather see the team get clear medical answers and give him all the time he needs than rush back a player it just signed to a $40 million deal.