Kristaps Porzingis agrees to 2-year, $40M deal with Warriors

The Golden State Warriors are bringing back veteran center Kristaps Porzingis on a two-year, $40 million contract with a player option on the second season,agent Jeff Schwartz of Excel Sports Management told ESPN's Shams Charania.

Porzingis is extending his current contract, allowing him to negotiate and agree with the Warriors before hitting the open market on Tuesday afternoon. The Warriors acquired Porzingis at February's trade deadline from the Atlanta Hawks for Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield.

The Porzingis signing makes the math trickier for the Warriors to clear enough space to offer unrestricted free agent LeBron James the full $15.1 million nontaxpayer midlevel exception, but there remain paths for them to clear enough financial room, particularly given Draymond Green's decision to decline his $27.6 million player option and deliver the Warriors flexibility in the coming days.

Green and the Warriors are expected to reunite, team sources said, with his exact contract -- length, first-year salary and full contract amount -- to be determined after the Warriors determine other business. They are still expected to pursue James, among other unrestricted free agents, once the market opens.

That could also mean exploring a trade for Washington center Anthony Davis to help lure James, though there has yet to be tangible movement on that front, league sources said.

Porzingis, 30, was a major help for the Warriors when on the floor down the stretch of the season, averaging 16.1 points in 23.7 minutes in his 15 games played. But availability has been a concern for Porzingis in recent years, as he has dealt with a mysterious illness along with Achilles tendinitis. He was limited to 32 games total with the Warriors and Hawks this season and 42 games with the Boston Celtics the season prior.

The Warriors view him as an ideal floor-spacing rim protector next to Green in the frontcourt, capitalizing on the space provided by Steph Curry and, if Porzingis can stay on the floor, believe they brought him back at a bargain. Porzingis made $30.7 million last season.