Instead of landing a two-time MVP to pair with Stephen Curry, Golden State opted for a far more modest move—acquiring the injury-prone Latvian center in a trade that left many fans scratching their heads. Analysts were just as puzzled, including former Celtics champion Kendrick Perkins, who did not hold back in his criticism of the deal.

Perkins’s skepticism is rooted in a simple reality: Porzingis’s troubling injury history. The 30-year-old has played in only 17 games this season and has been on the court for just 16.6% of possible minutes since arriving in Atlanta.

“I forgot he still played basketball,” ESPN’s Kendrick Perkins said on SportsCenter. “I’m serious, I haven’t heard his name until tonight. He does absolutely nothing for me. When you talk about what we’ve been discussing over the two weeks, we’ve been talking about pairing Steph with Giannis.

“Now, all of a sudden, it’s just Kristaps Porzingis. That don’t move the needle for me and it damn sure don’t move the needle for the Warriors and Steph Curry. This is just a move, probably to free up money and free up cap space to make a bigger move this offseason.”

The Warriors finalized a trade sending Kuminga to the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night, as confirmed by Yahoo Sports’ Kelly Iko. Buddy Hield will also join Atlanta in the deal, while the Warriors will acquire Kristaps Porzingis in return.

Even more concerning, KP has surpassed 57 games in a season only once in the last decade. Currently sidelined since January 7 due to an Achilles issue and illness—likely connected to his POTS diagnosis—Porzingis remains a major health gamble for a Warriors team trying to maximize the final years of Curry’s prime.

There’s no denying his talent when available. In limited action this season, Porzingis averaged 17.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.3 blocks in fewer than 25 minutes per game. He also brings championship experience, having won a title alongside Al Horford in Boston, an achievement Golden State hopes he can help replicate in the Bay Area.

From a front-office perspective, that theory makes sense. Porzingis is on an expiring $30.7 million contract, which will come off the books this summer, giving the Warriors additional flexibility in future trade or free-agency pursuits.

In that light, the acquisition may be more about positioning than immediate impact. Of course, this wasn’t the splash Golden State originally hoped to make.

For weeks, the Warriors had aggressively pursued Antetokounmpo, reportedly emerging as one of the final three teams in the running for a potential trade. There is, however, a familiar precedent for this kind of gamble in Golden State.

More than a decade ago, the Warriors took a very similar risk when they acquired Andrew Bogut from the Milwaukee Bucks in 2012. At the time, Bogut was a talented but chronically injured big man coming off a fractured ankle. Many around the league questioned whether Golden State was trading for damaged goods.

Yet that move ultimately became a foundational piece of the Warriors’ dynasty. Bogut never returned to All-Star form, but his defense, rebounding, and rim protection helped transform the Warriors into a championship-caliber team, culminating in the 2015 NBA title.

The parallels to Porzingis are hard to ignore. Like Bogut, Porzingis is a highly skilled seven-footer whose impact is undeniable when healthy. And like the Bogut trade, this deal represents a calculated bet that the player’s talent will outweigh his medical red flags.

The difference, of course, is timing. The 2012 Warriors were an ascending young team with patience to spare; today’s Warriors are racing against the clock to maximize the final years of Stephen Curry’s prime.

That history doesn’t guarantee Porzingis will deliver a similar payoff, but it does show that Golden State has been willing to take this kind of risk before, and has seen it pay off at the highest level.

According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, Golden State made a pick-heavy offer for Giannis and continued conversations deep into the process. Ultimately, however, the Bucks made it clear they had no intention of moving Giannis before the deadline.

Giannis Antetokounmpo’s refusal led to Kristaps Porzingis’ arrival in the Bay Area

With the dream of having Giannis put on hold, the Warriors pivoted to Porzingis as a secondary option. That doesn’t necessarily mean the Antetokounmpo pursuit is over. NBA salary-cap analyst Yossi Gozlan noted that there could still be a complicated path for Golden State to revisit a Giannis trade in the future, but it would now involve another major piece.

NBA Salary Cap Analyst Yossi Gozlan reported, ” If the Warriors are getting Giannis tonight, it goes through Jimmy Butler now.”

The logic is straightforward. Butler’s $54.1 million salary aligns almost perfectly with Antetokounmpo’s $54 million figure, making him the most realistic contract-matching piece in any future blockbuster.

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However, that scenario is anything but simple.

Butler, who joined the Warriors at last year’s trade deadline, was ruled out for the season on January 20 after suffering a torn right ACL. Despite the devastating injury, Golden State has reportedly promised the 36-year-old that they intend to stand by him throughout his year-long rehab process.

“Even in recent days, one league source said the Warriors have made it clear to Butler that they are going to stick by him as he begins a year-long rehab,” Charania reported.

That commitment complicates any hypothetical plan to flip Butler in a future Giannis pursuit, making the road ahead far murkier than it initially appeared.

Previously, reports indicated that Draymond Green, Jonathan Kuminga, and multiple draft picks had been part of Golden State’s offer to Milwaukee. When the Bucks declined, the Warriors shifted their attention elsewhere, ultimately landing Porzingis instead.

Whether this move proves to be a savvy strategic pivot or merely a short-term placeholder remains to be seen. For now, Golden State has added a talented but unreliable big man rather than the superstar fans dreamed of.

And as Kendrick Perkins made clear, that’s a trade that raises far more questions than it answers.