After being heavily rumored as one of Giannis Antetokounmpo’s most aggressive trade suitors, the Golden State Warriors have pivoted, cashing in a portion of their assets for Atlanta Hawks big man Kristaps Porziņģis.
Shortly after Wednesday’s stunning deal, ESPN’s Shams Charania broke down Golden State’s thought process as it fortifies its veteran roster around superstar point guard Stephen Curry.
Shams Charania Explains Warriors’ Decision To Exit Giannis Antetokounmpo Sweepstakes
Wednesday’s trade saw Golden State send disgruntled forward Jonathan Kuminga and sharpshooter Buddy Hield to Atlanta in exchange for Porziņģis.
The unexpected development comes a day after NBA insider Marc Stein revealed that the Warriors’ trade offer for Antetokounmpo featured Kuminga alongside veteran star forward Draymond Green, guard Brandin Podziemski, and draft capital.
According to Charania, Golden State decided to call off its pursuit of Antetokounmpo, the top player available at this year’s trade deadline, after getting the sense that the Milwaukee Bucks aren’t serious about moving him.
“The Warriors’ pursuit of Giannis Antetokounmpo after a week is over. They have moved on, clearly, with these moves,” Charania said. “My understanding is the Warriors made a pick-heavy offer last week, continued to have conversations going into this week with the Bucks.
“But they came to the belief over the last 24 hours, the Warriors did, that the Bucks were not going to be moving their two-time MVP at this trade deadline. We’ll see if that holds true over the next 24 hours, but they decided they were gonna move forward here.”
The insider added that acquiring Porziņģis instead of Antetokounmpo means Green will likely stick around with the Warriors, the franchise with which he has spent his entire 14-year career.
“If there was a trade he was gonna be a part of, it was gonna be the Giannis trade,” Charania noted. “They have no other conversations with Giannis right now.”
Shams:
“The Warriors pursuit of Giannis after a week is over. They have moved on. The Warriors made a pick heavy offer last week continued to have conversations going into this week with the Bucks…If there was a trade (Draymond) was gonna be a part of it, it was gonna be the… pic.twitter.com/G0aV8rTszL
— Oh No He Didn’t (@ohnohedidnt24) February 5, 2026
Per Charania, Porziņģis “has been on the Warriors’ radar dating back to his previous playoff runs with the Boston Celtics,” as they have “been on a persistent search for a rim-protecting center who can hit 3s.”
Unfortunately for Golden State, the one-time All-Star has garnered a reputation as one of the league’s most injury-prone players. Porziņģis has been limited to just 17 outings this season due to illness (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome) and injuries, most recently left Achilles tendonitis.
While the 30-year-old last suited up on Jan. 7, he is expected to make his Warriors debut “soon after joining” the team.
Golden State (27-24) sits eighth in the Western Conference, having stayed afloat despite star forward Jimmy Butler III suffering a season-ending torn right ACL last month. However, Porziņģis alone may not be enough to elevate Curry and Co. back into title contention.
Through 17 appearances, Porziņģis is averaging 17.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.3 blocks, and 1.8 3-pointers per game, shooting 45.7%.
