Frank Vogel’s best defenses have always started with a rim-protecting big man. The one lined up for him in Golden State is out indefinitely.
Kristaps Porziņģis is out for Warriors training camp at BYU-Hawaii with what they’re calling a “health issue,” Golden State general manager Mike Dunleavy announced Sept. 28 at Warriors Media Day. The team has also not given a timeline for his return.
“He was in last week, doing well and everything,” Dunleavy said. “I don’t have a timeline on it; hopefully he will be back soon.”
A day later in Hawaii, coach Steve Kerr called Porziņģis “day to day” and described his situation as a private health matter, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
It’s an early test for Vogel. The Warriors announced the hiring of the 53-year-old as Kerr’s associate head coach on Sept. 17. He spent the last two seasons on Jason Kidd‘s staff in Dallas and replaced Terry Stotts on Kerr’s bench.
Kerr hasn’t been subtle about what Vogel’s role will be in Golden State.
“I’m going to turn the defense over to him,” Kerr said, according to NBC Sports Bay Area.
Vogel said Kerr’s pitch was simple. “That I would run the defense, and there’s nobody in the league that would want to do it more than me,” Vogel told reporters after his hire. He’s built elite defenses before, but every one of them had a big like 7-foot-2 Porziņģis anchoring the paint.
Vogel’s Track Record Shows What Happens When the Anchor Goes Missing
Vogel took over the Indiana Pacers midway through the 2010-2011 season and built them into a defensive powerhouse. Indiana ranked first in defensive rating in 2012-13 and 2013-14, reaching the Eastern Conference Finals in both years.
He won a title with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020, when they ranked third in defensive rating. The next season, they finished first.
Across stops in Indiana, Orlando, Los Angeles, and Phoenix, Vogel is 480-422 as a head coach.
The stretches that didn’t see much success are telling. His two Orlando Magic teams went 29-53 and 25-57, ranking 22nd and 18th in defensive rating. His lone Phoenix Suns team finished slightly above league average at 13th before getting swept in the first round by Minnesota, and Vogel was fired after one season.
Every Vogel Defense Has Been Built Around a Rim-Protecting Center
Vogel’s best defenses share a formula: a shot-blocker anchoring the paint, a physical big next to them and disruptive guards and wings on the perimeter.
In Indiana, that was Roy Hibbert, who averaged 2.2 blocks in 2013-14, next to David West, Paul George and George Hill. In Los Angeles, Anthony Davis (2.2 blocks per game as a Laker) had JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard next to him, while Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Danny Green and Alex Caruso hounded ball handlers.
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The scheme asks a lot of the bigs. Historically, Vogel likes to limit switching and keep the center near the rim in drop coverage. What this usually opens up is the opportunity for his perimeter defenders to gamble at the point of attack because help is waiting behind them.
As long as the anchor is in place, the defense holds even when other pieces go missing. The 2014-15 Pacers lost Paul George for all but six games and still ranked seventh in defensive rating with Hibbert in the middle.
Without it, things fall apart quickly. Davis played 40 games for the 2021-22 Lakers, and a defense that ranked first a year earlier dropped to 21st. Vogel was fired after a 33-49 finish.
Orlando had bigs, just not ones that fit together. The 2016-17 Magic paired Nikola Vucevic, Bismack Biyombo and Serge Ibaka, and pushed Aaron Gordon out of position to small forward. The fit was poor and resulted in “awful spacing,” SI’s Rohan Nadkarni wrote.
Golden State Has the Perimeter Pieces but Not the Anchor
Golden State already has the perimeter half of that formula. The Warriors tied for second in steals per game last season but 26th in blocks, a defense that could take the ball away but struggled to protect the rim behind it.
Porziņģis is supposed to be the other half. He’s the only 7-footer on the roster and has averaged 1.8 blocks over his 10-year career, peaking at 2.4 in his All-Star season with the New York Knicks.
“I’m really excited about putting him in my defensive system,” Vogel said before camp. “There’s a lot of details I believe in with my defensive system and how I use shot-blocking bigs that really gets a lot out of ’em on that side.”
Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler and Porziņģis never shared the floor together last season. Butler tore his ACL Jan. 19, a few weeks before Porziņģis joined the team.
The Warriors sent Buddy Hield and Jonathan Kuminga to the Atlanta Hawks for Porziņģis on Feb. 5, then signed him to a two-year, $40 million extension this summer. He averaged 16.1 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 15 games with Golden State.
Fifteen games is the problem.
Porziņģis hasn’t played more than 65 games in a season since 2016-17. He missed all of 2018-19 after tearing his ACL, then played 42 games in 2024-25 and 32 last season between Atlanta and Golden State.
“Disappointed that he won’t be out there tomorrow,” Dunleavy said. “But it’s early, so don’t want to overreact to anything.”
Horford, Green, and Bassey Are the Stopgaps Until Porziņģis Returns
Vogel knew what he was getting into when he took the job. With Butler (torn ACL) and Moses Moody (ruptured patellar tendon) not expected back until around midseason, he told the Chronicle the Warriors need to “keep their head above water” until Butler returns.
Without Porziņģis, the first answer is Al Horford. The 40-year-old is entering his 20th season after re-signing on a two-year deal, and he averaged 1.1 blocks in 21.5 minutes across 45 games last season.
“It’s definitely challenging and difficult to deal with that,” Horford said. “I know he wants to compete, and he wants to be out on the court.”
Kerr would ideally keep Horford around 18 to 20 minutes a night off the bench, NBC Sports Bay Area reported, and the Horford-Draymond Green frontcourt posted a minus-11.1 net rating in 228 minutes last season. Porziņģis’ absence may force Kerr to lean on both more than he’d like.
Behind Horford is Charles Bassey, a 6-foot-10 rim runner who appeared in five games for Golden State last season.
The more interesting option is Green at center, where the Warriors’ old identity runs into Vogel’s system. Green-at-the-five lineups have long leaned on switching, contradicting Vogel’s usual scheme.
Vogel is a fan of what Green brings, though.
“You want your defense to have teeth, you know what I mean?” Vogel told Warriors Wire, before admitting Green scared him every time he played against Golden State.
Lendeborg Could Be the Swing Piece Vogel Needs on the Wing
The perimeter is where the Warriors look most like Vogel’s past contenders. Gary Payton II played 73 games last season, and De’Anthony Melton averaged 1.6 steals, giving Vogel the kind of point-of-attack pressure Caruso and Caldwell-Pope provided in Los Angeles.
Rookie Yaxel Lendeborg could be the swing piece. The No. 11 pick is 6-foot-9 and 241 pounds, and Kerr sees him covering more than one spot.
“He gives us the size and versatility we need,” Kerr said. “He can guard bigs. He can guard wings.”
Whether Lendeborg starts or comes off the bench, Kerr added, “will be determined in the next couple of weeks.”
“This is all part of the season, the health of the team, things happen,” Kerr said. “So you just roll with it and move forward.”
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