The Atlanta Hawks can no longer rely on Kristaps Porzingis, nor can any team.
It is impossible to talk about Porzingis without mentioning injuries. He has had maybe the worst luck of any NBA player ever in this department, suffering from a host of tragic injuries that have sapped the 7’2 center of the mobility that gave him his iconic nickname, The Unicorn.
Now in his 11th season as a pro, Porzingis has a new lingering condition to fight: Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS). POTS is a chronic cardiovascular illness where the body struggles to distribute blood to extremities, including the head, properly. POTS is not fatal, but it comes with life-changing consequences. The diagnosis was announced this offseason, following Porzingis’s previously unexplained string of absences due to “post-viral syndrome” (POTS can develop as a result of viral infections).
Porzingis has played in 12 of Atlanta’s 23 games this season, and he’s questionable for Friday night’s matchup against the Denver Nuggets. While Porzingis was expected to miss plenty of time, only two of these missed games were the result of resting on a back-to-back. Of his 11 missed games, seven have come due to illness, not injury. Prior to contracting the infection that gave Porzingis POTS, he was only diagnosed with a non-COVID illness four times in nine seasons.
The risk of rostering Porzingis is too great for Atlanta
All things considered, Porzingis’s notoriously injury-prone joints have held up better than expected this season. When you subtract his absences for rest and illness, Porzingis has missed just two games to “traditional” injuries.
But the reality is that, even in an anomalously injury-free season from KP, he is still missing more games than the Hawks can afford as a result of developing POTS. It’s heartbreaking that, of all people, Kristaps Porzingis was the player who contracted a cardiovascular illness that hamstrings his ability to compete on an NBA court. Could his rotten luck be any worse?
There is a world where Porzingis manages to fight his symptoms and his absences due to illness/POTS can be reduced significantly. There is also a world where a “healthy” (i.e., having no mechanical injuries) Porzingis is doomed to miss half the season with his new condition.
The question the Hawks must ask themselves is whether they are willing to bet on Porzingis. If this were last season, where the Hawks had no expectations, and Trae Young was guaranteed to be on the team next season, I’d be willing to roll the dice on KP. After all, he’s exactly what the Hawks need when he (and the team) are at full strength.
The problem is that this trade deadline is the inflection point that will decide the fate of the Hawks. Trae Young is on an expiring contract. Do the Hawks extend or trade him? Giannis Antetokounmpo is available for trade. Will the Hawks take a swing for the fences? Jalen Johnson is emerging as a true star. Can the Hawks rebuild around him?
The Hawks must answer all of these questions by the trade deadline on February 5th, 2026. There is no time to see if Porzingis and his medical team can help the big man play more.
Don’t expect Porzingis to be a Hawk for much longer. Whether he gets flipped at the deadline or poached in free agency, holding onto KP exceeds Atlanta’s tolerance for risk at this point in their timeline as a franchise.