Preseason Ends. Porzingis Still Isn't Playing. Horford Still Is.

The Warriors signed Kristaps Porzingis to be their center. Al Horford is their center. That's where things stand as the preseason closes and the regular season approaches, with no timetable attached to Porzingis and no indication one is coming soon.

I've been tracking this since camp opened — Porzingis went down almost immediately, Horford stepped into the starting role, and what began as a stopgap has quietly become the working plan. The two-year, $40 million investment in Porzingis was built around rim protection and floor-spacing that Golden State couldn't find last season. Horford, signed on a two-year, $14 million deal for depth and leadership, is now being asked to provide all of it. He's 36 years old and a reliable professional, but this is not the job description he was hired for.

The broader context makes it harder. Jimmy Butler is still recovering from a torn ACL with no firm return date. Stephen Curry, freshly extended, is the one constant the organization can count on. The margin for error on a roster built to reverse a 39-46 season was already thin. Losing the starting center before a game counts doesn't widen it.

At some point the Porzingis situation stops being a preseason footnote and becomes a regular-season problem. That point is close.