The Golden State Warriors may not have paired Stephen Curry with the star he envisioned playing alongside (Giannis Antetokounmpo), but a star is a star at this point.
The Warriors needed to add another high-caliber contributor to the roster after Jimmy Butler’s ACL injury, and they did just that before the Feb. 5 trade deadline. However, Bleacher Report’s Greg Swartz believes the Dubs recently acquired 7-foot-2 star is among the most overrated players in the NBA right now.
“Kristaps Porziņgis has the highest swing rating of any player on this list and is still a productive player when he’s on the floor,” Swartz wrote Monday. “Therein lies the problem for the 30-year-old.”
“Porziņgis continues to be plagued by injuries and is currently sidelined with left Achilles tendinitis. He’s played just 17 total games for the Atlanta Hawks all season and just five since November. Porzingis was averaging just 45.4 healthy games over the last eight years coming into this season. Injuries have unfortunately robbed him of a potential Hall of Fame career.”
“That didn’t stop the Golden State Warriors from making Porziņgis their big trade deadline acquisition, however.”
According to Swartz, Porzingis is the 4th most overrated player in the league right now. While Porzingis is unreliable at this stage of his career, he isn’t overrated. The former New York Knicks star is simply injury-prone, making it challenging for him to find a rhythm on the hardwood.
If Porzingis were regularly active and underperforming on both ends, Swartz would have a legitimate case for including the former lottery pick in the overrated category.
Hopefully, for the Warriors’ sake, Porzingis doesn’t experience any devastating injuries moving forward.
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